Sweltering temperatures at Bristol Crown Court have caused delays
Morgan Dorsett, 19, from Shropshire, who died after she was attacked by a dog at a flat in Bristol(Image: PA)
A court hearing to pass a sentence on a woman for allowing a dog to kill her cousin won’t now take place for two months, because the heatwave postponed proceedings at Bristol Crown Court.
Kelcie Reed was due to appear at Bristol Crown Court today (Thursday, July 9), but late yesterday the hearing was rescheduled for a date in September, after issues with the heat at the court building.
Reed, 24, pleaded guilty to a single offence of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog where death occurred, at a hearing back in late May, and had been released on conditional bail so a pre-sentence report could be compiled.
At the time, the judge in the case warned Reed’s barrister that there was ‘a strong likelihood of immediate custody’.
Reed, now of Barrowmead Road in Lawrence Weston, had her cousin Morgan Dorsett staying with her at a flat in Cobhorn Drive in Withywood, in late February 2025.
Morgan, 19, was moving from her home in Shropshire to start a new life in Bristol, but just days after arriving, suffered fatal bites to her neck when an XL Bully named Prince attacked her on the evening of February 26.
Last week, Bristol Live reported that the second heatwave of the summer – in late June – caused havoc with the hearings at Bristol Crown Court, with hearings postponed or needing to take place remotely due to the soaring temperatures.
The issue appears to be most affecting the cells of the court, which were deemed too hot to use. In late June, there was dismay in the public gallery when the sentencing of one serious sexual assault case had to be delayed, and may not now happen until September.
Ian Kelcey, partner at Bristol-based solicitors Kelcey & Hall, said at the time that issues in courtrooms were indicative of a chronically-underfunded criminal justice system.
“It’s a bit like potholes isn’t it,” he said. “If you don’t spend money on keeping the roads put together you’ll get potholes that get bigger and bigger.
“From head to toe, the criminal justice system in this country is grossly underfunded.”
General view of Bristol Crown Court(Image: Getty Images)
“It’s not this government’s fault, it goes back to both sets of political parties over the last 30-40 years (responsible for) gross underfunding.”
The criminal justice system has been particularly poorly funded since the austerity era ushered in by the Cameron–Clegg coalition which came to power in May 2010.
Ministry of Justice capital funding was cut by 70% over the early 2010s and, within this, capital funding for both HM Courts & Tribunals Service and HM Prison & Probation Service was cut by more than 90%, according to economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies.