A CROWN Court judge has criticised the delays from police in charging a man with grievous bodily harm relating to an alleged incident on Christmas Eve, 2018.

Joshua Lee James is accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Joseph Sims in Gloucester Street.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is due to appear at Bournemouth Crown Court for trial on June 15, 2021.

But the judge overseeing the case questioned why it had taken so long to get to this stage.

Judge Fuller QC asked the prosecution team why, if the defendant was arrested on the evening of the alleged incident, was he not charged with the offence until May 2020.

He was critical of Dorset Police for how long this has taken, stating that in terms of delays in justice this was “one of the worst cases I have ever seen”.

A Dorset Police spokeswoman has defended the force’s handling of the case, blaming a number of factors including the coronavirus pandemic for the delay.

She said: “Following a detailed investigation, which involved taking multiple statements, examining CCTV footage and other enquiries – all carried out while the officers involved were managing competing demand from other cases and investigations – a case file was prepared to be submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The case file was submitted on 28 February 2020 and we then had to await a charging decision from the CPS.

“The charging decision from the Crown Prosecution Service was received on 27 April 2020, a postal requisition was raised and was issued on 14 May 2020.

“There was a delay in the case getting to court as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The victim was updated throughout.

"Updates were also provided to the suspect.

“We recognise at times there may be a significant period of time between a suspect being arrested and charges being brought, but we have a responsibility to investigate all cases to an appropriate standard and we only have a finite amount of resources to do this.

"We are also at times dependent on material being received from third parties before we can progress an investigation, such as forensic submissions or examination of digital devices.

“We are committed to ensuring the justice process is as swift as possible but also that cases are examined thoroughly and that all available evidence is examined so it can be brought before the court if necessary.”