Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court

Marlborough Street Magistrates Court
The former court buildings, now a hotel
Location within Central London
General information
Location	19–21 Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′51.62″N 0°8′22.13″W / 51.5143389°N 0.1394806°W / 51.5143389; -0.1394806
Technical details
Floor count	6
Design and construction
Architect	J. D. Butler, the police architect; Messrs
Other information
Number of rooms	108 rooms and 9 suites, total 116
Number of suites	9
Number of restaurants	2 restaurants, 2 bars
Website
http://www.courthouse-hotel.com/

Marlborough Street Magistrates Court was a court of law at 19–21 Great Marlborough Street, Soho London, between the early 19th and late 20th centuries. The court saw many significant trials, including those of Oscar Wilde, Christine Keeler, Keith Richards and John Lennon. The court closed in 1998 and is now The Courthouse Hotel London, a 5-star hotel next to London Palladium Theatre, and opposite Carnaby Street and Liberty London.

The Courthouse Hotel is located in the old Grade II listed Marlborough Street Magistrates Court building, which was the second-oldest magistrates court in the UK, dating back to the 1800s. The building has a turbulent history from its time as the Marlborough Street Magistrates Court, which set the scene for many famous cases over the years, involving figures such as John Lennon, Oscar Wilde, Johnny Rotten, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

In 1835 Charles Dickens worked as a reporter in the building for the Morning Chronicle, and Louis Napoleon appeared in court as witness in a fraud case between attempts to establish a second empire in France in 1847. In 1895 Oscar Wilde took the Marquess of Queensbury to court on a criminal libel charge.

The courthouse featured in many tabloid newspaper stories throughout the 1960s and 1970s in particular. In 1963 Christine Keeler was taken to court over sex allegations which led to the Profumo scandal becoming public. In 1966 Bob Monkhouse faced a charge of conspiracy to defraud film distribution companies, and in 1967 former television presenter Katie Boyle gave evidence against a man facing careless driving charges after an accident. The building was centre to Mick Jagger's 1969 court case in which he was fined £200 for drugs charges. In 1973 fellow Rolling Stones member Keith Richards was fined £205 for possession of marijuana, heroin, mandrax, a revolver and an antique shotgun.