Katoomba District Court is back in session after a 20 year hiatus

For the first time in more than 20 years the District Court is sitting in Katoomba Courthouse. See who is appearing the first week back.

District Court is back in session after a two-decade long hiatus in the upper Blue Mountains. Picture: News Regional Media

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District Court is back in session at the historic Katoomba Courthouse after a two-decade long hiatus.

To help ease the pending trial caseload in the region, the first sitting day will be tomorrow, Monday.

“The sittings will include trials where people from the Blue Mountains and surrounding communities will serve as jurors, performing an important role in the delivery of justice,” NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman told The Blue Mountains News.

Katoomba Courthouse is an unusual early example of Federation Romanesque style architecture that is rare among courthouses in NSW. Picture: Carmela Roche/AAP

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Justice said the District Court will sit at Katoomba Courthouse for five weeks between February and March.

Under the circuit sitting arrangement, judges will rostered to the District Court from Sydney.

District Court matters matters listed this week at Katoomba are:

Monday, February 10

• R v SS
• R v SM
• R v Ronald Samuel Bloom

Friday, February 14

• R v Brendan Sydes
• R v Darren Jay Palmer
• R v Francis Wiremu Bishop

“This will be the first time in more than 20 years the District Court has sat in the historic Katoomba Courthouse,” NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said. Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

“This will be the first time District Court matters have been heard in Katoomba since the 1990s,” the justice department’s spokesman said.

“There will be multiple cases heard in each sitting block including trials, sentences and appeals.”

The News understands the District Court sittings in Katoomba will help reduce the pending trial caseload in the region, specifically from Penrith District Court, without impacting Local Court sittings at either Penrith or Katoomba.

Magistrate Leanne Robinson will preside over Local Court sittings in 2020. Appointed to the bench in 2018, she has worked at Legal Aid NSW for the majority of her professional life.

The District Court will sit at Katoomba Courthouse to help reduce the pending trial caseload in the region, specifically from Penrith District Court. Picture: David Swift/AAP

In 1985 the Mountaineer newspaper said the new court in Katoomba, pictured today, would be a building whose “outward appearance will delight those with architectural tastes, while its inner compartments will be a terror to evil doers”. Picture: Carmela Roche

Last year, 939 criminal matters were finalised at Katoomba Local Court.

High profile cases at Katoomba Courthouse in recent years have included the inquest into the disappearance and suspected death of Belinda Peisley, and inquiries into the 2013 bushfires at Mount Victoria and Springwood.

The Supreme Court sat at Katoomba Courthouse from September 4 to November 24, 1989, for the trial The Queen v George Savvas.

The longest serving staff member at Katoomba Courthouse is Deputy Registrar Casey Chester who has been at the court since 2013.

Katoomba Courthouse was designed by Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon. Wycombe Rd, Neutral Bay is named after his birthplace. Picture courtesy of North Sydney Heritage Centre.

Role of NSW courts

Local Court

• All criminal cases and over 90% of civil cases begin in Local Court
• Local Court civil jurisdiction deals with civil claims up to $100,000
• Deals with most criminal matters including summary offences, which are crimes such as stealing, assault and possession of drugs
• More serious offences are referred to the District or Supreme Court after a committal hearing in the Local Court

District Court

• The District Court is the 'middle court' in the state justice system
• It’s a trial court that deals with indictable criminal offences, except murder, treason and piracy
• Its civil jurisdiction deals with civil claims from $100,000 to $750,000 and all motor accident cases
• Appeals from the Local Court are heard in the District Court