Revealed: The staggering backlog of criminal cases in Greater Manchester's crown courts

The staggering backlog of criminal cases waiting to be heard in Greater Manchester's crown courts has been revealed.

New figures published by the Ministry of Justice show a total of 5,329 cases are waiting to be dealt with at Greater Manchester's three crown courts - Manchester Crown Square, Manchester Minshull Street and Bolton Crown Court.

One court, Minshull Street, ranks the second highest in the UK for backlogged cases, at 2,378. Only Snaresbrook Crown Court in London has more, at 3,442. The figures reveal 1,984 cases at Crown Square and 967 at Bolton Crown Court.

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It's reported jury trials could be scrapped in some cases after the crown court backlog almost doubled in five years, hitting another record high.

The Government is considering “fundamental reform” of the courts after Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed the number of criminal cases waiting to be dealt with by crown courts in England and Wales stood at 73,105 at the end of September.

Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said the figure represented a “failure of our justice system” which “cannot go on”, adding: “Change must come”.

The caseload increased 3 per cent on the previous quarter (71,042 cases), 10 per cent on the previous year (66,426 cases) and has nearly doubled since the end of 2019 (38,016 cases), prior to the coronavirus pandemic. There were 14,865 outstanding sexual offence cases, of which 3,291 were for adult rape allegations, according to the PA news agency.

Prosecutors have warned victims are facing waiting times of between two and five years before a case goes to trial, with court listings now running into