Teesside Combined Court Centre
Teesside Combined Court Centre
Location	Corporation Road, Middlesbrough
Coordinates	54°34′31″N 1°13′52″W / 54.5754°N 1.2312°W / 54.5754; -1.2312
Built	1991
Architect	Napper Collerton
Architectural style(s)	Post-modernist style
Shown in North Yorkshire

The Teesside Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Corporation Road, Middlesbrough, England.

History

Until the early 1970s, apart from an aging courtroom in Middlesbrough Town Hall, ^[1] there were no dedicated court facilities suitable for criminal trials in the area. ^[2] This was temporarily resolved when a new law courts building (now referred to as Middlesbrough Magistrates' Court) was opened in Victoria Square in 1973. ^{[3] [4]} However, as the number of court cases on Teesside grew, it became necessary to commission a courthouse with dedicated facilities for both Crown Court hearings, ^[5] which require courtrooms suitable for trial by jury, and for County Court hearings. ^[6] The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department had been occupied by rows of terraced houses (Elm Street, Atkinson Street and Ash Street), ^[7] which were cleared away in the late 1970s for a development which Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government cancelled in 1979. ^[8]

The new building was designed by Napper Collerton in the Post-modernist style, built by John Laing Construction in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £15.1 million, ^[9] and was completed in 1991. ^{[10] [11]} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing onto Central Square Gardens. The central bay featured a two-storey portico formed by columns supporting a pyramid-shaped glass roof. Inside the portico there was a glass doorway on the ground floor and a Royal coat of arms at first floor level. The first and second floors were cantilevered out over the pavement and fenestrated by tall bi-partite windows split by full-height columns supporting an entablature and, in the two bays flanking the central bay, segmental pediments. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate twelve courtrooms. ^[12]

A statue sculpted by Graham Ibbeson, entitled "Scales of Justice", which depicted two small squabbling children being held by a women, was unveiled outside the building in 1994. ^{[13] [14]}

Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of Robin Garbutt, in April 2011, for the murder of his wife, the Melsonby postmistress, Diane Garbutt. ^[15]

References

External links

• Court information