TV presenter and Wolverhampton workshop owner Jay Blades pleads not guilty to two counts of rape
TV presenter Jay Blades has denied two charges of rape and will not face trial for another two years.
The 55-year-old, who has a workshop in Wolverhampton, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court via video link on Wednesday.
The case against Blades, who was granted conditional bail, was adjourned for trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court in September 2027.
A case management hearing was also set for the same court on May 15 next year, which Blades will not be required to attend in person.
Blades’s defence counsel Susan Meek told the court the defendant had been unable to work since the allegations were made, adding: “It is an extraordinarily long time for him not to be able to work.”
At the conclusion of the hearing, which lasted 23 minutes, Judge Anthony Lowe expressed regret at the “backlog” causing the delay.
Judge Lowe said he was unable to “bump” other cases out of the list to accommodate an earlier trial.
He said: “I understand the application you make, Ms Meek, but the reality is, perhaps with the press’s attention on this case, it will at least bring it more to the public domain – the chronic position we are in, in relation to the backlog.”
The judge told Blades: “This matter will have to be decided by a jury.
“I am sorry to say that that will not take place for effectively over two years – until the 20th of September 2027.
“I regret that. Not as much as you do but I do regret it. It is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial but I am afraid there is just nothing I can do.
“That, I am afraid, is just the state of where we are with outstanding trials.”
The judge added that the timing of the trial may change, depending on other cases, but Blades “must assume it’s highly likely that the trial will not take place until then (September 2027)”.
The defendant, of Claverley in Shropshire, found fame on the restoration programme The Repair Shop, which he started presenting in 2017.
He also appeared on Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off and Comic Relief, as well as presenting the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020.
