BRADFORD Crown Court was facing a backlog of more than 1,000 cases at the end of June, the latest figures show.

Ministry of Justice data shows there were 1,039 outstanding cases at Bradford Crown Court at the end of June.

That was a decrease from 1,116 at the end of March, and 1,136 at the same point in 2021.

But despite this decline, uncompleted case numbers are 79 per cent higher than they were prior to the coronavirus pandemic – in June 2019, there were 582 cases outstanding at Bradford Crown Court.

Of the cases outstanding at the end of June, 233 (22 per cent) related to alleged violent attacks and 147 (14 per cent) were for sex offences, including 26 alleged rapes.

Diana Fawcett, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: “Long waits for trial cause immense stress and misery for victims. Sadly, wait times for court are only part of the problem – many people have already waited years from reporting the crime to the police to their case reaching the courts.

“This a particular problem for victims of sexual violence – our case workers are supporting victims who have been waiting upwards of five years to have their cases heard."

The delays have led to case where sentences have been reduced as a result to reflect the length of time a defendant has had to wait.

Earlier this week Andrew Jackson, 46, of Osterley Grove, Ravenscliffe, Bradford, a third strike drug dealer received a reduction of six months in his sentence to reflect the fact that it took two years for his case to reach conclusion.

Jackson also received a discount for pleading guilty, meaning his final sentence was two years imprisonment suspended for two years.

Stephanie Boyce, president of the Law Society, which represents solicitors, said the national backlog of criminal court cases has left victims and defendants facing "unacceptable delays".

“The criminal justice system has been devastated by years of underfunding and cuts and there are not enough judges, barristers and solicitors to cover all the cases," she added.

The Ministry of Justice said it is spending almost half a billion pounds to reduce wait times and deploying a range of measures – including unlimited sitting days, Nightingale courts and increasing magistrate sentencing powers.

This “has so far reduced the backlog in the Crown Court by over 2,000 from its pandemic-induced peak and seen magistrates cases return to pre-pandemic levels”.

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