A trial has been adjourned for over three and a half years in what is thought to be the longest delay in a case due to the Crown court backlog. The latest backlog total is 73,105 cases.

The figure stood at a record low of 33,290 in March 2019, but the cumulative impact of cuts to the criminal justice system, including a reduction of judges’ sitting days and a shortage of criminal barristers, sent it up again. Reports of defendants appearing for jury trial two years after their first appearance before magistrates are now commonplace. 

But investigative court reporting blog Mouse in The Court revealed this week that one defendant in Snaresbrook Crown Court (pictured) has had their case delayed by 43 months.

The defendant, a 31-year-old man, had been charged with threatening members of the public with a machete in the Tower Hamlets area of London. He denies the allegations. Having been granted conditional bail - with a requirement to wear a GPS tag - he was told the next available trial date for non-custody cases was the 16 October 2028. The trial is expected to last two to three days.

The defendant’s counsel was asked if they were available for trial on that date. He replied, 'I won’t have retired by then'.

On being told the next available date, Judge Charles Falk said 'wow' and added: 'That is the furthest away I have ever set a trial date but that is the position the Crown court is in.'

The judge told the defendant: ‘I am so sorry we can’t try you in what is a serious matter for three and a half years… I recognise you’re going to have your life on hold. I’m sorry about that.

‘We will have to have a pre-trial-review to ensure everyone is still alive.’