Judge blasts ‘chronic’ court backlog as TV presenter’s trial listed for 2027

A crown court judge has hit out at the “chronic” backlog of cases after TV presenter Jay Blades was told he will not face trial for two years.

Judge Anthony Lowe said “it is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial”, as he adjourned the 55-year-old’s rape case until September 2027.

The crown court backlog stood at a record 76,957 cases as of March 31 2025, up 11% from 69,021 a year earlier, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures.

Some 18,093 cases had been open for at least a year at the end of March – also a record high.

Ministers are set to respond this autumn to recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson to overhaul the courts system to “reduce the risk of total system collapse” – as some defendants have had their cases listed in 2029.

Speaking at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Lowe said: “I am sorry to say that that will not take place for effectively over two years – until the 20th of September 2027.

“I regret that. 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.”

Blades’s defence counsel Susan Meek told the court the defendant had been unable to work since the rape allegations were made, adding: “It is an extraordinarily long time for him not to be able to work.”

Judge Lowe said he was unable to “bump” other cases out of the list to accommodate an earlier trial.

He said: “I understand the application you make, Ms Meek, but 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.”