A JUDGE has demanded an explanation over lengthy delays in a drugs case.

Judge Rhys Rowlands sitting at Mold Crown Court said Dale Conrad Jones had been arrested in June of last year but did not receive “a postal requisition” to attend court until October 4 this year.

Dale Conrad Jones, 28, of Pen y Llyn, Gwersyllt, near Wrexham, denied that in June of last year he possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

The judge said that in view of the current workload in the crown court his trial could not now be held until next April when it should have been dealt with a year ago, he said.

But he said he would want “chapter and verse” why the case had been in the pipeline for so long.

Barrister Karl Scholz, prosecuting, said there had been a four month delay between the first and second interviews, there was a further three months before an expert’s report was received, two months later a charging decision had been sought and it took two months for that advice to be given.