Rape-accused Jay Blades is latest defendant facing court delay but Shrewsbury judge has been decrying backlog for years
A Shrewsbury judge apologised to TV presenter Jay Blades for the fact his rape trial will not be heard for two more years - but said he hoped the delay would at least highlight an issue he has been complaining about for years.
Judge Anthony Lowe, the Resident Judge at Shrewsbury Crown Court, apologised to Blades for the delay in his case, as he has been apologising to defendants for the past six years for the long waits they face.
Blades, 55 and of Claverley near Bridgnorth, denies two charges of rape and appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday (September 10) by video link.
The case was adjourned for trial on September 20 of 2027 - more than two years after Wednesday's hearing.
“I regret that," the experienced judge told Blades. "Not as much as you do but I do regret it. It is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial but I am afraid there is just nothing I can do.
“That, I am afraid, is just the state of where we are with outstanding trials.
"The reality is, perhaps with the press’s attention on this case, it will at least bring it more to the public domain – the chronic position we are in, in relation to the backlog.”
"Not a proper justice system" may sound drastic, but Judge Lowe has been speaking in similarly plaintive terms about the court backlogs and the impact they are having on the lives of victims, witnesses and defendants for years.
In April of 2019 he hit out after delays to a number of cases involving young people in his court.
