Alleged sex offenders and violent criminals have been out on bail for more than a year, leaving victims living in fear as delays hit Cumbria's courts.

Victims and defendants in more than 180 outstanding trials have waited longer than a year to have their day in court.

Lives are in limbo, victims are suffering and innocent people could be languishing in jail as court backlogs threaten to overwhelm the criminal justice system, experts have warned.

At the end of March at least one defendant had been behind bars for over 12 months after being remanded in custody ahead of their trial.

And outside of prison walls people accused of sex, drug and violent offences were among at least 21 allowed out on bail over a year ago.

Prolonged periods of bail – where defendants are released from custody to await their trial – can leave victims anxious and afraid, according to charity Victim Support.

Among those remanded on bail for a year or longer by courts linked to the Cumbria Local Criminal Justice Board were alleged perpetrators linked to six violent crimes; five sex offences and four drug trials.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of trial cases where defendants had been bailed for over a year was nearly double the 11 recorded in 2014, the earliest data available.

But the number has fallen slightly from 24 in the same quarter last year.

Across England and Wales, more than 14,100 trials had been outstanding for more than a year in March, with defendants remanded on bail in nearly 80 per cent of those cases.

The Criminal Bar Association and the Law Society are among those calling on the Government to take urgent action to invest in the criminal justice system to ensure there are enough judges and lawyers to cover a “mountain of cases”.

They say decades of underfunding and cuts have contributed to a crisis that long predates the coronavirus pandemic.

CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC said the crisis had escalated to a “perfect storm” with insufficient judges, prosecutors and defenders available to tackle a huge backlog of cases.

He added: “If it was running on vapours before Covid, today exhausted prosecutors and defenders are doing the equivalent of pushing a broken down car up a steep hill with two flat tyres and no spare wheel.”

A spokesman for the Law Society echoed the concerns and said the courts were “crumbling” as victims and defendants face unacceptable delays in accessing justice.

He said problems had been exacerbated by the pandemic, adding: “Innocent defendants face years in limbo before their name is cleared, while victims’ suffering is compounded by the long wait for justice.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government has introduced measures to improve the justice system, including the extension of unlimited sitting days, the extension of Nightingale court rooms and the opening of virtual courtrooms across all jurisdictions.

To help retain judges and magistrates, it has also raised the statutory mandatory retirement age to 75 for judicial office holders.

A MoJ spokesman said its “decisive action” kept justice moving despite the pandemic’s impact, with the total number of outstanding cases falling by seven per cent in the North East as a result.

Victim Support’s chief executive Diana Fawcett said delays were having a devastating impact on victims by delaying access to justice, causing more emotional trauma and stopping them from moving on with their lives.

She said far-reaching problems must be tackled to ensure justice is done and to prevent victims from losing faith in the criminal justice system altogether.