Backlog in court cases doubles in East of England during pandemic

Ipswich Crown Court hears cases from across Suffolk

The backlog in crown court cases has doubled in the East of England over the pandemic period, new figures show.

In the second quarter of 2019 there was a backlog of 3,522 cases, but this has risen to 7,056 for the same period in 2021.

Suffolk, served by Ipswich Crown Court, has seen the biggest rise in its backlog - up 142% from 387 cases to 937, while Essex saw a 126% rise.

The government said it was spending about £500m to address the backlog.

BBC Politics East has found that the number of outstanding sex offence cases in the East of England had risen from 282 in 2019 to 794 in 2021 - a 182% increase.

The number of outstanding violent crime cases rose from 810 to 1,470 - an 81% increase.

HM Courts Service's Eastern region covers six counties

Unprecedented delays in criminal prosecutions has left about 60,000 crown court cases waiting to be heard nationally.

This month the BBC talked to an alleged victim of sexual abuse in the East of England who had been "having nightmares" having waited years for her case to come to court, and was still waiting.

The legal and policy officer of the Fair Trials campaigning group, Griff Harris, said: "The backlog was already about 40,000 cases before the pandemic and it has risen notably during it.

"The size of the backlog means that innocent people are being held for months in prison on remand awaiting trial.

"Victims and witnesses are having to wait years for trials that occur, many, many months or even years after the incident which is being dealt with actually happened.

"It means that it will be a traumatic experience for people. They'll struggle to remember key details and that damages people's trust in the justice system."

The number of outstanding cases in Bedfordshire rose from 451 in 2019 to 852 in 2021, an 89% increase

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "This government is determined to deliver a justice system that puts victims' needs first.

"That is why we have introduced our new Victims' Bill, are spending almost half a billion to reduce court backlogs and have published new criminal justice scorecards to improve transparency and help identify performance issues so they can be addressed head-on."

You can get more on this story on Politics East, airing on BBC One in the East of England on Sunday, 19 December at 10:00 GMT, and on the BBC iPlayer afterwards.