Thousands of victims of crime are waiting for their cases to be resolved with the courts facing an “unprecedented mess.”
This comes as new figures from the Ministry of Justice show that there are now 3,867 outstanding court cases across Greater Manchester as of September.
In Bolton, home to one of the city region’s three crown courts, this has meant victims of some of the region’s most serious criminals have had to wait longer and longer for justice.
Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi said: “The government has been promising to tackle the courts backlog for years but these new figures reveal the stark truth that they are going backwards.
“As a former practising criminal barrister, it is alarming to see the courts in such an unprecedented mess.
“Most importantly, behind every single one of these statistics is a person who is being denied justice.
“This is completely unacceptable and urgently needs addressing.”
Crown court deals with the most serious cases including assault, rape, drug trafficking and even murder.
The figures show that the number of outstanding cases in Greater Manchester has risen by nearly 400 compared to the 3,485 the year before.
That year, barristers went on strike in an unprecedented protest against what they said were years of underfunding and the stricken state of the justice system.
This year, cases in the city region are taking as long as 191 days on average to be dealt with, with a staggering 501 cases unresolved for two years or more.
The stark figures come after repeated warnings about the growing backlog and delayed trials affecting Bolton Crown Court and other courts across the country.
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In England as a whole, there are 66,547 outstanding cases in crown courts as of September, up from six per cent compared to last year.
But the government claims it has already taken steps to address the huge backlog.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "People who break the law must face justice, and these figures show crown courts are now dealing with the highest number of cases than at any point since 2019.
"This is a direct result of our decisive action to let courts run at full throttle like lifting the cap on the number of court sitting days, keeping Nightingale Courts open and investing more in our buildings to deliver a modern and effective justice system."
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