Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott talks about crown court backlogs

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Transcript

00:00Well, I've been calling for action on this for a number of years now. We've had, since

00:05the pandemic, more than double the regular backlog in our Crown Courts, and my concern

00:10is that that means that victims aren't getting their day in court, and that defendants are

00:15waiting around for their trials as well. It's not fair on victims, it puts pressure on witnesses,

00:20and despite everything that the system is doing in order to alleviate the problems,

00:24we don't seem to be making much progress. We've done a lot to try and help maintain

00:28that victim's confidence, but it is getting harder and harder to do when the delays are

00:33still maintaining. We've got cases which are being listed well into 2026 now, which is

00:38a real problem for victims of crime who want to be able to move on with their lives.