Bar Council Chair #SamTownend KC told The Independent the fall in guilty pleas suggests an increasing trend of criminals trying to manipulate the justice system. @thebarcouncil

Bar Council Chair Sam Townend KC told The Independent the fall

in guilty pleas suggests an increasing trend of criminals trying to manipulate the justice system. Read on –

Criminals are gaming the system by pleading not guilty and relying on crippling trial delays to evade justice, The Independent has been told.

Laying bare the extent of the crisis in the courts, figures obtained by this publication suggest the number of cases waiting more than three years for a verdict has skyrocketed at least sevenfold since 2019 to exceed 1,280 last June.

As delays have soared, the proportion of early guilty pleas has plummeted – falling by nearly half in four years – as suspects try to manipulate the system.