All very straightforward, you'd imagine. Justice in action. He did not enter a plea at the Crown Court hearing yesterday so he has been sent for trial.
But here's the kicker.
The 52 word "report" ended with the final sentence: "His trial has been set for January 2028". What? Three years' time? I'm not one of those constantly harping on about Britain being broken but what does this say about the justice system? Is Williams playing the system by not entering a plea and hoping it will all go away? Or is he now a victim of a system which, even if he is eventually found innocent of the charges, will trash his reputation and ruin his life for 3 years?
This is beyond ridiculous.
Agree. The Conservative Government have starved the CJ system since 2010 and this just one example of the consequence. Even worse is the way many rape victims have to wait anything up to five years for the accused to be brought to trial. There are many more examples. However the accused here has elected jury trial for an either way offence. ATM that is his right. If he had agreed to be tried by the magistrates the trial would have come to court much sooner. The reform proposals by Shabana Mahmoud which are supported by the Magistrates Association would make many either way offences triable in the lower court only. If found guilty I can’t imagine that the penalty would be that great. The maximum is two years custody but the range is large. If true, he should have know better and clearly, he must be a man of considerable brain if not much judgement. I don’t imagine he has any previous and is of good character. He won’t be as foolish again. Of course, he’s betting on a jury being more sympathetic than a Bench but if found guilty he will get no credit for an early plea which will mean no one third discount. We shall have to wait and see.
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