THERE are many reasons for trials not going ahead on the day ("Court blunders costing £800,000", February 22).

Some relate to the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), some to the courts, and some to the fact that defendants plead guilty on the day because the prosecution has done its job properly.

The fact is that the number of trials which had to be adjourned on the day in North Yorkshire was lower than the national average at the date of the National Audit Office report, and remains lower (better) than the national average to this date.

In other words, fewer people are inconvenienced as a result of problems with the police or prosecution than in most other parts of the country, but many more are inconvenienced by defendants pleading guilty at a very late stage - something which happens more regularly in North Yorkshire than other parts of the country.

Your own calculations show that the cost to the tax payer of late pleas, or cracked trials, amounts to over £620,000 of the £800,000 headline figure.

The proportion of this cost attributed to the police and CPS equates to £53,648 of this total. This puts the matter in context, whereas the juxtaposition of your headline followed by the introduction "blunders by police and CPS" gives a completely misleading interpretation.

It is important the public have accurate information regarding the performance of the criminal justice system in North Yorkshire if they are to come forward to assist the police and other criminal justice partners in bringing offenders to justice with confidence, something which they have been doing with regularity over recent years, when we have seen an increase of 29 per cent in offenders brought to justice against the background of falling crime rates.

Robert Turnbull,

Chief Crown Prosecutor,

North Yorkshire Area,

Athena House,

Kettlestring Lane,

Clifton Moor,

York.

Updated: 10:13 Wednesday, March 01, 2006