Women allegedly abused as children face court delays of six years

Those who allege they were abused as children have been left facing delays of six years for their cases to come to court.

The Mail can reveal that women, who claim the same man attacked them when they were children, reported allegations to police in 2020.

But pressure on police time meant the suspect was not charged until early last year, with a trial set to start at Manchester Crown Court this month.

But they said they were contacted by Victim Support ahead of the start date and told lack of court time meant it was now being put back until deep into 2026.

The case joins a growing list of trials that are being held up because of problems with court schedules, as well as a lack of judges and barristers.

Earlier this month another alleged child sex abuse victim revealed her anguish at her Ipswich Crown Court case being repeatedly delayed. It was originally set to begin in 2022 but will now be held in 2026.

The Law Society has complained that some cases are being listed for as far off as spring 2027.

One of the women whose case was due to be heard in Manchester told the Mail: ‘How can they cancel these types of cases? I’m on the verge of pulling out, which means potentially he [the alleged attacker] gets away Scot-free.

‘I was waiting for the trial date thinking I could cope up to that date but now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. It’s another 18 months and it’s going to be six years from the day I picked up the phone [to contact police].

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‘There’s a reason why so few cases [of this type] come to court and that’s the amount of distress it puts you through. I’m an independent, powerful person in my work but this has left me a wreck.’

The alleged victim in the Ipswich case, who is in her 30s, said: ‘Being a victim of childhood sexual violence comes with its own trauma but the court process feel like another trauma in itself.’

The backlog of crown court cases has reached a record 71,000, with Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the watchdog which monitors the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service, warning it could soar to more than 100,000.

He has called for radical reforms including judge-only trials and magistrates handling more cases instead of crown courts.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said it was considering ways to fast track certain cases through the system while providing funding to increase the number of court sitting days.