Nudging up court appearances with text message reminders: a randomised controlled trial
Randomised Control Trial Status
Completed
Trial Hypothesis
Sending a reminder text message to a defendant the day before they are due to appear in court, results in more defendants attending the first scheduled hearing.
Geographical area
Hampshire and Isle Of Wight.
Research Institution / Organisation
University of Cambridge
In Collaboration With
Hampshire Constabulary
Project Start Date
January 2017
Participants - inclusion criteria
The defendant is required to attend court via postal requisition
The postal requisition may be sent by post or served personally on the defendant
The defendant is 14 years or older at the time of raising a postal requisition.
Study Design
Basic randomised control trial comparing a treatment to a control group.
Interventions
Single Treatment
A single text message which is sent to the defendant's last known mobile telephone number, as recorded on Hampshire Constabulary’s record management system (Niche RMS) with a templated message.
The message will be personalised, but limited to the defendants details and court attendance detail for their case.
Outcome Measures
- Attendance at the first scheduled hearing
- Failure to Appear arrest warrants received by Hampshire Constabulary
- Early guilty pleas received (defined as a guilty plea, resulting all offences at the first scheduled hearing).
Date last updated
Tuesday 26 June 2018
Return to Research Map