David Fletcher will be expected to build strong community links

David Fletcher, 47, will head the �3m pilot community court, due to open in December, which will deal with low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.

The pilot centre, which is being set up in Liverpool, has been modelled on similar schemes in New York City.

Mr Fletcher, a district judge in Sheffield, will earn �113,121pa and be expected to build community links.

Speaking at the proposed site for the centre, a former school in Vauxhall, north Liverpool, Mr Fletcher said the new system could dramatically cut the time it took for courts to deal with offenders.

Crime victims involved

He said: "In the event of someone entering a guilty plea we could get them in the court, access the help they need and impose the sentence on the same day instead of the process taking weeks."

Mr Fletcher will also involve the victims of crimes in helping decide what punishments should be dealt out.

The centre will also offer drug rehabilitation.

'Monitor sentence'

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme on Monday, Lord Falconer, secretary for constitutional affairs, said the centre would look at what sentence is best for the community and the offender.

"There will be a judge, the probation service, young offender teams and advice bodies," he said.

"Communities want less crime. It's about what is best for communities with that offender.

"The judge will be engaged with local agencies and will monitor each sentence.

"It's an admission we need to do more and we need to see solutions."

Pilot scheme

Criminal Justice Minister Baroness Scotland said: "The centre will combine punishment and hands-on support to tackle problems and give local people quick and visible payback for the crimes they have suffered."

The centre has been developed in partnership between the Home Office, Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The pilot scheme at the centre will run until at least the end of 2006.

It has been inspired by the Red Hook community justice centre in New York, which opened in the 1990s.

Liverpool graduate

The Liverpool centre will feature a courtroom and a range of criminal justice agencies and social services, with the aim that they will work quickly and effectively together.

Mr Fletcher is married with two children and became a solicitor in 1981 after graduating from the University of Liverpool.

He worked in private practice in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, before he was appointed as a deputy district judge in 1998.