Drug trial defendant Alisha Hallum from Thatcham weeps as hearing is kicked into the long grass

A WOMAN accused of drug dealing wept as she was told her trial was being delayed...for almost a year.

Alisha Hallum first appeared in the dock for a preliminary hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 9.

The 23-year-old, of Tadham Place, Thatcham, is charged with being concerned in the supply of the Class A-controlled drug MDMA, or ecstasy, in Newbury between September 2, 2021, and Wednesday, May 24.

She is further charged with dealing in the Class A-controlled drug cocaine, the Class B-controlled drug ketamine and the Class B-controlled drug cannabis, also in Newbury between the same dates.

Magistrates told Ms Hallum that the case could proceed no further that day and they sent it to Reading Crown Court to be dealt with by a judge and, in the event of a trial, by a jury, on a date to be fixed.

Ms Hallum denied the offences and a trial was scheduled for Monday, November 20.

Ms Hallum, wearing a dark trouser suit, duly arrived.

But before a jury could be sworn in, it emerged that prosecutor Matthew Hodgetts was ill with Covid.

After a morning of behind-the-scenes inquiries, Judge Hassan Khan told Ms Hallum that the trial – scheduled to have lasted one week – could not go ahead.

Neither was there room for the trial in the court’s immediate schedule, he added.

Judge Khan apologised to Ms Hallum but told her there was no alternative to adjourning it until next October – an 11 month delay.

He meanwhile granted bail with conditions.

There have been a number of recent hearings at Reading Crown Court where judges have remarked on the delay at bringing cases.

Last September the Newbury Weekly News reported how prosecutors took nearly two-and-a-half years to charge one sexual predator.

This was despite the fact that all the necessary evidence had been available within days of the offence, according to Judge Paul Dugdale.

He said the "inexplicable, inexcusable" delay in charging meant it took four years for justice to be served.

Defence barristers increasingly use such delays as mitigation and, indeed, Judge Dugdale said he had reduced the defendant's sentence accordingly.

He added: "Delays...damage the process of justice more, I think, than those involved in the delay taking place realise.

"Victims have to wait a long time for trials to be heard; defendants have to wait not knowing what's going to happen."

Online blogger The Secret Barrister has stated: "The criminal justice system has been devastated by years of cuts and chronic underfunding.

"Every part of the system has been slashed to the bone."