Victim's pain as adjournment thwarts confronting his abuser

George, whose name has been changed to protect his anonymity, has waited more than a decade for justice

For many the new year brings aspirations to get healthier, reconnect with loved ones or to take up a new hobby.

For George, not his real name, from Essex, his resolution was to confront the man who indecently assaulted him when he was a child.

On 10 January, George arrived at Snaresbrook Crown Court clutching his victim personal statement. It was the chance he had been awaiting for more than a decade - the chance for closure.

Yet he left the court that same morning with nothing but his unread statement.

"We've got all this uncertainty that we have to continue to live with," he told the BBC.

George had been joined by another victim, who had cut short his holiday in Portugal and flown into London Stansted Airport that morning, to have the final word.

The grim faces they were met with upon entering the courtroom in east London told them a different story was unfolding.

Their abuser, Thomas Rodgers, from Billericay, Essex, could not be sentenced due to the prosecutor not being available.

The 44-year-old had been convicted of indecent assault and two offences of indecency with a child, and 10 January was meant to be the culmination of years of pain for the victims.

Thomas Rodgers was convicted of sexual offences in December

George, whose name has been changed to protect his anonymity, said he had spent Christmas awaiting justice.

'I felt vulnerable'

"I had all of Christmas waiting for this day, I enjoyed my Christmas knowing he was convicted," he said. "And I had all the trauma of reliving it, and of writing my statement.

"It was time to start my year afresh. Of course, it was terrifying. There were a lot of emotions in play. I was beside myself about it all - so angry. I was writing this statement knowing I had to go through with it no matter what.

"Then there was the thought of him being on the other side of the screen as I read it. That was scary. I felt vulnerable but I had nothing to lose. After all, if I said nothing then no one would ever be protected."

George said the second victim in the case had spent the festive season in Portugal "to get away from this all", but he flew back to England for the sentencing.

'It was horrible'

"The alarm bells started ringing for us when our police officer in the case didn't pick up," George continued.

"The phone rang and rang and that was the first warning sign. I started to think: 'Oh my God, what's happening here?'

"We got to the court and saw all the people from the press and thought, 'OK things are going ahead, it's fine.' But then the judge pulled us in. It was going to be adjourned."

The victims attended Snaresbrook Crown Court on 10 January, only to be told the case had been adjourned

George, who was inspired to seek justice after becoming a father, said the judge apologised after hearing the lengths he and his fellow victim had gone to in order to attend court.

He said his heart sank when he realised they would have to return to their homes with more unanswered questions. He added: "It was horrible.

"I was thinking about how long we had waited, about how we have got all this uncertainty that we have to live with for another month."

'No one truly understands'

George said that the events that happened to him as a pre-teen have left him, at times, "manically depressed". Despite counselling and therapy, they are memories that won't go away.

"The only way to describe it is torture on your mind; it occupies 80% of your mind, it's always there and until the sentence is there I'll always feel it."

For George recovering mentally remains a long and testing process, and he admitted he found it hard to find much comfort in therapy.

"No one truly understands the trauma because they haven't gone through it. I felt no one truly understood what happened.

"For me the only route was to get this guy convicted and get the weight off my shoulders.

George's fellow victim had flown to the UK via London Stansted Airport for the sentencing at court

"We want to read our victim personal statements as we need to get that off our chests. I guess we will have to wait a little while longer."

'We wholeheartedly apologise'

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it contacted Snaresbrook Crown Court several times before the sentencing to inform that its "fully briefed" advocate was not going to be available.

He said the CPS received confirmation on 9 January that the case was adjourned - the day before the sentencing.

That evening, however, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) listed the case for the following day.

A HMCTS spokeswoman said: "We wholeheartedly apologise for the errors made in this case and for any distress caused as a result.

"We are looking into the matter to ensure lessons are learned and to prevent this kind of mistake from happening again."

Thomas Rodgers will be sentenced in late January.