Long trial delay for Trey Bridson, the teen charged with GBH on police in Thatcham disorder

A TEENAGER who denies a serious assault on a police officer must wait until almost 2028 for his trial.

The four-year delay from the date of the offence is indicative of the current state of the justice system and huge backlogs in both the magistrates’ and the crown courts.

Eighteen-year-old Trey Bridson was charged in connection with a serious public order incident in Thatcham town centre last October.

Mr Bridson, of Pritchard Close, Greenham, denies unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on PC Paul South in Thatcham town centre on October 31 last year.

It is a serious offense that carries a potential life sentence in prison.

At Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, May 20, Ellie Sheahan, prosecuting, confirmed the Crown Prosecution Service had conducted a review of the case and decided to continue with the prosecution.

Judge Alan Blake told the court the case concerned an incident in which “an officer was injured in the course of his duty”.

But Judge Blake told Mr Bridson his trial could not be listed until September 2027, something which he attributed in part to “extremely busy court lists”.

And he explained that the fact Mr Bridson was on unconditional bail also meant his case had been deprioritised amid soaring crown court backlogs.

Judge Blake said: "Those on bail, I am afraid, fall behind in the queue, so those who wait in custody do not wait so long.”

Turning to the available dates in September 2027, Judge Blake remarked: “My calendar does not even go up to 2027”.

Eventually a date of September 8 was agreed for the trial and other dates in 2027 were set for the prosecution to serve evidence in the case.

Mr Bridson was again released on unconditional bail.

Last October a Thatcham woman accused of benefits fraud was told she must wait until the end of 2026 for her day in court.

Judge Jane Rowley noted that the alleged offences dated back to 2022 and branded the further, two-year delay as “unacceptable”.

The trial was nevertheless scheduled to begin in November, 2026.

Last May the National Audit Office revealed the crown court backlog was the highest on record and the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) ambition to reduce the caseload to 53,000 by March 2025 is no longer achievable

Over one quarter of cases wait for a year or more to be heard at crown courts, prolonging the distress to victims, witnesses and defendants.