‘Lives on hold’: a day in the crown court where cases are delayed for years

Backlog in cases set to reach 100,000 in England and Wales without action on shortage of barristers and judges

• Court delays ‘driving innocent prisoners to plead guilty’ in England and Wales

A man bursts out of a courtroom, shouting expletives. The judge has just ruled that his brother-in-law will not be going to prison after sexually assaulting his two young daughters.

“The justice system is a fucking joke,” he bellows, pacing ahead of his family. Another male relative mutters darkly: “We’ll find him.”