'You're asking someone to give evidence about something that happened eight years ago' - Northampton Crown Court lawyers concerned about delays as child sex abuse trial is 'bumped again'

The case – which involves two allegations of serious sexual assaults on a 14-year-old girl by a 20-year-old man – was first reported to police in 2020.

A trial at Northampton Crown Court has been listed to take place on several occasions but legal delays mean it has never started.

The proceedings had finally been due to begin tomorrow (Monday, November 9) but due to a lack of court time, the case will now need to be re-listed yet again.

Currently, sexual offence trials in Northampton are regularly being scheduled for mid-2028.

Legal counsel appeared at a short Northampton Crown Court hearing on Friday (November 6) to make efforts to ensure that the case goes ahead as soon as possible.

One option was for this case was for the court to re-list it every day next week in the hope there may be an unexpected slot. But this would mean the defendant, witnesses and the victim have to repeatedly turn up for court and mentally prepare themselves for a case that might not go ahead.

Barrister Ben Gow said: “This case is six years old.

"The family don’t want to be here on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week. Can we list this as soon as possible?

"The 14-year-old complainant is now 20. If it goes into the normal list you’re asking someone to give evidence about something that happened eight years ago, more than half her life.”

Recorder Richard Davis KC, overseeing Friday’s hearing, said: “This case has been bumped many times.”

He said that Her Honour Judge Lucking KC, the resident judge who is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the court, had noted on the case file that the trial was ready to commence in January this year.

Recorder Davis that he could list the case for mention later this month and, after consulting the listings officers, said there was a potential space on April 19, 2027, when the case could be accommodated.

"I’ll add a note in the sidebar, for what it’s worth, to the effect that it really needs to come on that date,” he said.

"That’s probably as close as we’re going to get,” said Mr Gow.

Recorder Davis told the defendant: “The court cannot accommodate this trial next week.

"It needs to be re-fixed (to next year). Due to its seriousness and age, let’s hope it gets heard then.”

Recorders are entry-level judges, although they are increasingly taking on a more complex, heavier workload because of the delays in the criminal justice system. They do not always have the authority to intervene in case administration.

Circuit judges are more experienced, full-time judges. Northampton Crown Court has four criminal court rooms in full-time use, and a fifth that's occasionally requisitioned from the civil court. It has four full time circuit judges – Judge Adrienne Lucking, Judge Rupert Mayo, Judge David Herbert and Judge Rebecca Crane. It also has a number of recorders who sit when the circuit judges are on leave or seconded to different courts across the Midlands Circuit.

Like all courts across the country, Northampton is facing long backlogs because of chronic historic underfunding of the criminal justice system.

On most days, courts have a mix of trials, administrative, bail and plea hearings as well as sentencings. But only one trial can usually take place in a court room at a time.

In the coming week, each court room already has a trial taking place. Judge Crane is overseeing the Kettering John Boyle murder trial, in Judge Herbert’s court is the alleged murder of Mason Miller in a Northampton park. Judge Lucking is sitting in a long-running multi-million pound HMRC cigarette smuggling case and His Honour Judge William Harbage KC is overseeing a Corby domestic violence trial which has over-run by its expected time estimate.

This means there is no space for more trials.

Yet there were also seven further trials listed to start tomorrow – that of Matthew Winspear accused of serious domestic offences in Kettering; Cornell Mason accused of sexual offences in Wellingborough; Sukhendu Dey who is facing charges of sexual assault on a child in Kettering; three Lithuanian men who are alleged to have produced cannabis at a house in Corby; Auryn Edwards who is set to stand trial accused of sexually assaulting a child; Manzoor Hussein who is said to have assaulted a male victim in Northampton; and Kamran Ali who is facing a charge of bringing cannabis into HMP Onley.

All of those cases will now have to be slotted into later dates.

It is very common for courts to over-list the number of trials because so many ‘crack’ – resolve in a guilty plea before the need for a trial to take place or the CPS decides not to proceed with the prosecution. The latest official figures show that 21 per cent of trials at Northampton failed to start (cracked, vacated or proved ineffective) on the day they were due to begin.

The issues in the criminal justice system are well-publicised, with a national backlog of 81,000 cases. Northampton has 899 open cases – up from 823 two years ago.

The court has appointed new case managers to try to improve the smooth running of cases through the court system and to try to lower the rate at which trials crack on the day of listing.