'The system is a joke' Day in the life of crown court where delays and shortages are the norm

A man bursts out of a courtroom, shouting expletives. The judge has just ruled that his brother-in-law will not be going to prison after sexually assaulting his two young daughters.

- Emily Dugan

"The justice system is a fucking joke," he bellows, pacing ahead of his family. Another male relative mutters darkly: "We'll find him."

The trial at Leicester crown court has already been delayed from January to November because no prosecution barrister could be found. It was about to be put off for a second time before the family complained and had the case relisted.

The girls, one barely out of primary school, have watched the sentencing unfold and stand in the corridor weeping. In an impact statement read in court, their father said the delays had left him feeling angry and that "we were having to put our lives on hold".

Speaking afterwards, the girls' grandfather says of the wait: "They don't realise what it's done to us as a family."

Though the delay has caused distress, this is one of the court's faster convictions. The man's most recent offence was in May 2022 and lawyers say the case was relatively efficient. Others here wait four years for justice and trials set for 2026 are common.

The backlog in crown court cases in England and Wales is expected to reach 100,000 if the government does not take radical action. A chronic shortage of barristers and judges - as well as a cap on the number of days that judges can sit are all exacerbating the problem.

Last year, 61 sexual offence trials in the Midlands were adjourned on day one as there was no barrister available to prosecute. That did not happen in 2017 or 2019, and happened just once in 2018.

The prosecutor in the girls' case, Andrew Wilkins, said that in January 150 barristers' chambers were contacted to try to find alternative counsel for the trial, but nobody was available.