In both the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court, proceeding with a trial in the absence of the defendant is a last resort and is one which the courts will try to avoid unless necessary. In R v Jones, the House of Lords held that the decision to hold a trial in the absence of a defendant must:
‘...be exercised with great caution and with close regard to the overall fairness of the proceedings; a defendant afflicted by involuntary illness or incapacity will have much stronger grounds for resisting the continuance of the trial than one who has voluntarily chosen to abscond.’
Conducting a trial in the absence of a defendant has the potential to cause prejudice not only to the absent defendant, but also to any co-defendants and can be confusing to a jury. In order to ensure that defendants understand the potential implications of any deliberate non-attendance at trial, and to allow the court to justly impose the consequences, the rules'>Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR) require
