Victims of crime waiting five years for cases to go to court
VICTIMS of crime are waiting up to five years for their cases to go to court, the chief inspector of prisons has said.
Charlie Taylor said he had encountered one prisoner who had been in jail on remand for three years and had received reports of others waiting up to five years before facing trial, meaning their victims are also waiting for justice.
A report today reveals the number of people held on remand without having been tried or sentenced has risen to 16,200, a 50-year high and up from 9,000 in 2019 before the Covid pandemic. That means remand prisoners account for more than one in six (16 per cent) of the entire jail population in England and Wales, according to an analysis published today by the Prison Reform Trust.
The delays to justice stem from a record backlog of more than 66,000 outstanding cases. That has risen from 38,000 in December 2019, before the Covid pandemic forced widespread closures of crown courts.
The backlog has also contributed to the crisis of overcrowding in prisons, which last year forced Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, to abolish prison sentences of under a year for many criminals. Prisoners have also been freed early in an attempt to ease pressure on cell numbers and judges have been urged to jail fewer people.
Criminal justice watchdogs have warned that court delays add to the trauma of victims forced to put their lives on hold while awaiting justice.
They said it could also increase the risk to the public as prisoners held for long periods on remand could be released into the community without proper supervision on conviction.
The Telegraph revealed this month one rape victim is facing a five-and-ahalf year wait for justice after the trial of her alleged attacker was postponed hours before it was due to begin. Dame
Vera Baird, the former victims’ commissioner who is advising Labour on criminal justice, said the court delays were leading to increasing “attrition” for victims, which meant they were more likely to give up on pursuing cases.
A proportion of remand prisoners – potentially up to a fifth – will be acquitted for which there is no compensation for the time in prison. Others will be convicted and released having already served their sentence while on remand.
Mr Taylor said the record numbers not only contribute to jail overcrowding, but also cause problems when prisoners are released suddenly.
“Often they have lost their homes but also there is no mechanism for the police or probation service to know,” said Mr Taylor. “Critically in cases of offences like domestic abuse, there is no mechanism for victims to know someone is being released.”
He warned that prisons, which have only 1,100 out of 89,050 spaces free to take remand prisoners or offenders sent by the courts, are “on the edge”.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Our courts are at full throttle and we have boosted investment to reduce the outstanding caseload in the courts exacerbated by the pandemic and barristers’ strike. Judges make remand decisions independently of government but we are working hard to deliver swifter justice.”