"Exceptional case" sees 23 month delay

Monday 08 October 2018

Charges brought against a man in November 2016 have taken nearly two years to go through Guernsey's court system, after a filing blunder was made, and the case fell off the radar.

Bradley Marsh, 20, was arrested on 27 November 2016 after behaving in a disorderly manner toward police and fighting in a public place, in St Peter Port. Then, 23 months later, he appeared in court, where he was fined £1,000.

Marsh entered guilty pleas to the charges early in January 2017, alongside not guilty pleas to a series of assault charges he also faced.

Last Thursday Guernsey's Magistrates court heard how the court had previously conducted the standard enquiries, before sending instructions to the Police Court Office for a trial bundle to be prepared over the not guilty pleas. This trial pack was never prepared, leaving Marsh waiting on bail for nearly 18 months before his case was resolved.

Crown Advocate Calderwood said this was one of the worse cases of file mismanagement they had dealt with, but it was not an intentional mistake, just an oversight. Since a spate of problems, a new pre-trial review system had been implemented to tackle any issues.

When the mistake itself was realised, the assault charges were dropped, and Marsh was given a date for sentencing.

Marsh's defence advocate said the delay had given his client time to grow up, and he had respected his bail condition to not drink alcohol since the date he was first bailed in November 2016.

"Had it not been for that delay, the penalty would have been much more severe." - Judge Graeme McKerrell.

Judge Graeme McKerrell said on the face of things, these charges could have seen Marsh going to prison, but there were exceptional circumstances surrounding his case.

"Your actions were prolonged and violent, but on the other hand, I have to take into account that you're not responsible for the delay in this process and you have not reoffended since.

"So I am going to deal with this perhaps exceptionally, with a financial penalty.

"Had it not been for that delay, the penalty would have been much more severe."