Man 'dumbfounded' by years-long court delay

A man has been left feeling "dumbfounded" after facing lengthy delays in a court case dealing with charges against his alleged abuser - and brands a years-long gap between hearings as "incomprehensible".

The man, who is from the West Midlands and cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges that he was sexually abused as a child in the 1980s, reporting the matter to West Mercia Police in July 2018.

The accused was charged in 2024, and the case was brought before a judge in July 2025. But it was then put back two years to July 2027 - and nine years after the first complaint.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said the complainant and many others faced an "unacceptably long wait for justice".

The government, an MOJ spokesperson added, was "combining bold reforms, extra investment and tackling inefficiencies to address the huge court backlog", and deliver "swifter justice".

West Mercia Police, which covers the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire areas, said it could not comment on the case due to proceedings being active.

"However, rape and serious sexual offences are among some of the most complex and sensitive cases officers investigate," the force said, adding it was "absolutely committed to delivering justice" for anyone who was a victim of such crimes.

The complainant said when he learned proceedings were not scheduled to begin again until 2027, he was "dumbfounded", and thought he was "hearing things".

"It's incomprehensible that it's happening after all this time," he said.

Recalling the period in 2025 when he thought proceedings would get under way, he explained: "The weeks leading up to it, I wasn't in work, I just didn't have enough time for anything else. I didn't have room for all of that.

"Then to be told on the Monday it'll be Tuesday, then it was Wednesday, and then, on Wednesday, Victim Support rang to say the previous court case had taken too long and [my case had] been shelved until 2027."

Changes to the court system, announced in early December, said jury trials in England and Wales for crimes carrying a likely sentence less than three years would be scrapped.

The plans also include creating so-called "swift courts" to ease delays.

Serious offences including murder, robbery and rape would still go before a jury, and volunteer community magistrates, dealing with the majority of all criminal cases, would take on even more work.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said the current backlog of crown court case loads was at almost 78,000. Government projections indicate the backlog could reach 100,000 by 2028.

Lammy said the new system would get cases dealt with a fifth faster than jury trials.

The man alleging historical sexual abuse against him said he was supportive of the government's proposals to limit jury trials, but said his main concern was getting his day in court.

"I want justice", he said.

On the court case backlog, he added: "It's people's lives they're mucking around. They always blame it on Covid or something like that, but [there have been] so many delays now other than Covid..."

Helen Morgan MP, who represents a constituency in the West Mercia force area, said such long waits undermined "public confidence in the criminal justice system".

The Liberal Democrat for North Shropshire said the government must invest in and modernise the courts system to "tackle the backlogs and reduce the number of people on remand".

The county recently saw sentences passed for three men in a GBH case that took years to work its way through the system.

The defendants originally pleaded not guilty, and a trial date was set for September 2019, but the case was then rescheduled five times over seven years before the defendants were re-arraigned, with guilty pleas entered on 14 January this year.

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