A SENIOR judge has complained after he had to give a series of defendants shorter jail sentences because of delays in prosecuting them.

Judge Jonathan Rose asked the Crown Prosecution Service and West Yorkshire Police to explain what was happening after he became exasperated by one case in which he reduced the starting point for the sentence of two pub attackers from 24 months to 20 months.

After the case at Bradford Crown Court Judge Rose said: "In five days I have dealt with three [such] cases. It is an unacceptable state of affairs.

"It can't be right that defendants or victims have to wait such a period of time.

"No satisfactory explanation has been forthcoming and I ask for an explanation in this case."

He queried why sentencing had taken 13 months since the original incident with charging of the defendants taking several months. "Why can it be such a delay in charging?" asked Judge Rose.

"If you arrest a man and get CCTV images of him holding a stool above his head, you don't need pre-charge advice. If it's wrong, the court process will amend that."

He said he had another case delayed by pre-charge advice. He said: "Charge him and let the process of law begin."

And the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall also complained about delays to a case recently which, he said, meant he had to give a defendant a shorter sentence.

He said there was a "culture of delay" in the court system with courts being placed in a "disgraceful position".

He added that the sentencing guide is meant to be followed but not when a defendant is charged two years later and not quickly.

"I have sought to understand as Recorder how it has arisen and how it carries on in case after case after case.

"This delay brings us into disrepute and the judiciary's reputation into contempt."

He questioned why the defendant "should be left waiting month after month after confessing to your guilt".

Their concerns were echoed by Philip Davies MP (Con, Shipley) who said the judges had raised the issue with him at a meeting and he had taken it on board.

He said: "The judge was absolutely right to highlight this as a problem. It's something they've also flagged up with me."

He said he had asked a Parliamentary question about the average time between charging and sentencing offenders and the figures "clearly showed a quite considerable increase in time".

"It is completely unacceptable to victims of crime and unacceptable to witnesses expected to give evidence a considerable time later," he added.

"I'm in complete agreement and raised it with Robert Buckland, Justice Secretary, who I met this week."

He said the Minister was sympathetic to the issue.

Mr Davies said: "We need more money into the criminal justice system, we have empty courts in Bradford, and more resources into the CPS and more prison places. I'm delighted that the police are getting more resources but it would be bizarre if you weren't to follow that up with more in the criminal justice system."

A CPS spokeswoman said: “The efficient progression of cases from detection and charge to conclusion at court is influenced by all parties within the Criminal Justice System and not any single agency.

“The Crown Prosecution Service’s first responsibility is to provide timely charging advice. In custody cases we do this within a matter of hours and in bail cases our target is to do so within 21 days.

“On the most recent figures available for the last quarter year the average time taken to charge for Yorkshire and Humberside was 21.4 days.

"That is an average, and sometimes in more complex cases the delay may be longer, sometimes too long, but we are making consistent process and the additional resources promised will assist in maintaining that momentum.

“However, charging is just one aspect. Occasionally the gap between offence detection and referral to the CPS is too long, and sometimes the first available trial date is later than desirable.

“We continue to work with the CJS colleagues to seek to improve all aspects of case progression.”

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: "West Yorkshire Police take the concerns raised seriously and we are looking into the cases mentioned."