'Court delays cannot carry on' - PCC

John Campion said the West Mercia area ranks 43 out of 44 for the time it takes for cases to get through the crown court

"The communities across Shropshire, I think, expect prompt and efficient justice, and we're just not getting it in this country at the moment."

West Mercia's police and crime commissioner has told the BBC that long-term investment is needed in the courts system.

He said the West Mercia area ranks 43 out of 44 for the time it takes for cases to get through the crown court, with nearly 2,000 people currently awaiting trial.

It comes after a crown court judge said there was a "chronic" backlog of cases after Shropshire TV presenter Jay Blades was told he would not face trial for two years.

The 55-year-old, from Claverley, will face trial for rape, which he denies, in September 2027.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Anthony Lowe said: "It is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial."

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.

Jay Blades, pictured in October, will face trial for rape, which he denies, in 2027

Campion said the average wait for cases was about one and a half years.

"That for me really masks the true scandal in all of this, which is some of the more complex, more difficult things, sexual violence I would pick as an example, often go on for much, much longer," he said.

"My view is there are not enough specialist advocates to help support the cases, there aren't potentially enough specialist judges, or enough judges in total.

"What we've not seen is a long-term investment in our court system, our justice system, to help meet with the uplift that we have seen in policing."

He told BBC Radio Shropshire that it was clear this could not carry on and understood that the pandemic and barrister strikes, for example, had presented challenges.

"I hear from victims regularly, and particularly serious sexual violence, where some of these cases could take five or so years to go through the system," he said.

"You hear the despair over being retraumatised, over the terrible things that have potentially happened to them, and that real strength required to see it through - and justice shouldn't require that."

He added that he did not criticise individual judges or people working at courts but said the "system is broken" and needed a long-term, government-led plan.