Alleged child sex abuse victim faces nine-year wait for justice amid court backlog
An alleged victim of historical sexual abuse faces a long wait for justice as a crown court backlog of cases was delayed by two years.
The West Midlands man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he reported the alleged crime in July 2018, nearly 40 years after it occurred.
He said West Mercia Police then took two years to interview the alleged perpetrator and the Crown Prosecution Service did not lay charges until April 2024.
The case came before a local judge in July this year.
However, the judge who came to court to start the trial postponed the case to July 2027, nine years after the complainant submitted his report.
He is one of thousands of people affected by a backlog at the crown court which the Government has said it hopes to reduce with measures including plans to limit jury trials.
After preparing himself for the trial to begin, the complainant said he was unhappy about the long wait.
“I just didn’t have the words. I was stunned… It’s incomprehensible that this could happen after all this time,” he said.
“Previous weeks [the trial]I wasn’t at work, I didn’t have time for anything else. I had no room for all this.
“Then on Monday it would be Tuesday, then it would be Wednesday and then on Wednesday Victim Support called and said the previous case had taken too long and had been shelved until 2027.
“’Why am I not next?’ I said. Well it doesn’t work that way. “So throughout the system, particularly victims of historical abuse, they are pushed down, constantly pushed back, and that happens before you even get to the court process, and that pushes you back.”
The latest statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that the backlog in courts increased by 9 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 79,619.
The number of outstanding cases has reached an increasingly high point since early 2023, with long waits for cases affected by the Covid pandemic.
But a shortage of criminal lawyers, historic reductions in sitting days and the closure of crown courts over the last 15 years have also had a major impact.
Government forecasts suggest the backlog could reach 100,000 by 2028.
This led Justice Secretary David Lammy to announce wide-ranging reforms, including the abolition of juries in some cases in England and Wales.
The automatic possibility of appealing magistrates’ court decisions to the crown court is also being abolished.
The alleged victim said he supported the Government’s proposals to limit jury trials because he believed there would be greater consistency in decisions.
But he said his main concern was having his day in court.
“I want justice, I know what happened, the other side also knows what happened,” he said.
Commenting on the backlog, he said: “You wonder what we’re doing. They’re making a mockery of people’s lives. They’re always blaming it on Covid or something like that, but there’s a lot of delays outside of Covid now too.”
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan said: “The huge backlog in our courts is preventing victims from being given the justice they deserve, and I have heard from countless constituents about the serious impact of court delays.
“These long waits erode public confidence in the criminal justice system and allow too many criminals to get away with it.
“This also means that victims and witnesses may withdraw from the proceedings or their memory of the evidence may fade over time.
“It can also affect the mental health of victims and defendants awaiting trial.
“The government needs to invest in and modernize our court system to tackle the backlog and reduce the number of people in custody.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said his thoughts were with the complainant, who “like so many others faces an unacceptably long wait for justice”.
They added: “This is exactly why the government is pushing for bold reforms, extra investment and tackling inefficiencies and tackling the huge workload in the courts so that victims can get the justice they deserve more quickly.”
A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: “Due to active court proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment on this particular case.
“However, rape and serious sexual offenses are among the most complex and sensitive cases that officers investigate and we are absolutely committed to achieving justice for victims.”
The case continues.
