Backlogged for Justice, But Open for Debt Collection: Inside Teesside’s 'Kangaroo' Courtroom Crisis

Fast-Tracked for Council Debt Collection, But Delayed for Justice: How A Two-Tier Court System on Teesside Has been Allowed to Flourish...

13th December 2025

Teesside’s Court system is facing growing criticism, with increasing numbers of residents now openly referring to it as a “Kangaroo Court.” 

This is not a label applied lightly. It reflects deepening concerns about corruption, fairness, and whether justice on Teesside is still being administered in the public interest.

At the heart of the controversy are two apparently contradictory realities.

On the one hand, court officials and prosecutors routinely cite backlogs, staffing shortages, and overwhelming caseloads as reasons for delayed criminal prosecutions. Victims are left waiting months—sometimes years—for cases to be heard. Defendants sit in legal limbo. Justice delayed, as the saying goes, is justice denied.

On the other hand, the same courts seemingly appear to have ample time and capacity to hire out courtrooms to local councils across the region, particularly for large-scale council tax liability order hearings—often referred to by critics as “rubber-stamp summons factories.”

This contradiction has not gone unnoticed.

Justice for Sale & Local Councils are always the 'Highest Bidder'...

Local councils across Teesside regularly book out courtrooms en-masse to process hundreds of council tax non-payment cases in a single sitting. These hearings are often conducted at speed, with minimal scrutiny and little meaningful opportunity for defendants—many of whom are already financially vulnerable—to present mitigating circumstances.

In practice, this raises a serious question: If the courts are truly overwhelmed, how can they justify dedicating significant time and resources to revenue-raising exercises for local councils?

To many observers, it appears that civil enforcement against the poor is being increasingly prioritised over criminal justice, this is because it is efficient, predictable, and financially beneficial (at least to local councils that is)...

This perception alone is corrosive. Whether or not the courts see themselves as neutral venues, the optics are devastating.

The Erosion of Public Trust

Trust in the justice system depends on one fundamental principle: fairness However that fairness is now being openly questioned on Teesside.

When serious criminal matters are delayed due to a so called “lack of capacity,” yet courts remain readily available to enforce council debts—often adding further costs to already struggling households—it fosters the belief that the system has become transactional rather than just, with many locals now openly questioning why vulnerable people are being fast-tracked through enforcement hearings, while serious criminal cases stall? & Why does the system seemingly appear most efficient when money can be extracted?

A System That Penalises Poverty?

Perhaps the most damaging allegation now being levelled is that Teesside’s court system is structurally biased against the poor.

Council tax liability order hearings overwhelmingly affect:

• Low-income households

• People on benefits

• Those already struggling with rent, utilities, and food costs

  
  

These individuals are frequently hit with additional court costs, enforcement fees, and the threat of bailiffs—further entrenching hardship.

Meanwhile, claims of criminal court backlogs are used to justify delays that disproportionately harm victims and communities.

Critics argue that this shows categorically that the courts are operating a two-tier justice system:

• One slow, overstretched, and ineffective when justice is needed

• Another swift, efficient, and unforgiving when money is owed

  
  

That imbalance has led many to conclude that the system is no longer fit for purpose.

The growing use of the term “Teesside Kangaroo Court” also reflects more than just anger—it reflects disillusionment in a system that's clearly drifted away from delivering justice.

Courts derive their authority not from enforcement powers alone, but from public confidence. Once the public begins to believe outcomes are being pre-determined by left wing 'activist' judges or magistrates, hearings become performative, and priorities skewed towards revenue for the 'Meat Grinder' of the court system rather than the deliverance of actual justice, that erodes authority rapidly.

The uncomfortable question now facing Teesside’s justice system is this:

Is the court still an impartial arbiter of justice, or has it become an administrative tool that disproportionately punishes poverty while excusing systemic failure elsewhere?

Until that question is addressed openly and honestly, the label will continue to stick—and trust in the system will continue to drain away.