Judge apologises to gun-toting Walsall and West Brom drug dealers their sentencing as cancelled for second time
An exasperated judge has apologized to two convicted Walsall drug dealers after their sentencing was postponed again at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Brandon Thumper, 19, of Claypit Lane, West Bromwich, and Mohammed Choudary, 23, of The Delves, Walsall, are waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to numerous drug and firearms charges.
On Monday was the second time the Crown Prosecution Service failed to send a prosecutor to a sentencing hearing for the pair. Court time is at a premium due to the backlog of cases so big the Justice Secretary David Lammy MP is blaming case delays to scrap by the ancient right of.
Two hours were set aside for the sentencing with defence barristers, junior solicitors, Probation Service employees, a clerk, usher and security guards - all of which could have been better deployed elsewhere in the creaking justice system.
He said: "This is the second this sentencing has had to be adjourned due to the prosecutor not attending."
