Judge decries seven-year police delay in mother’s insulin poisoning case

Judge Philip Grey sharply criticised Cambridgeshire Police for the "unacceptable lack of grip" that caused a seven-year lag before a mother’s insulin-poisoning case reached Cambridge Crown Court. The defendant, a woman in her 20s with a history of mental-health issues, admitted to injecting her 16-month-old daughter with insulin three times in 2019; the child survived after hospitalization. She was sentenced to a suspended 18-month term after pleading guilty to administering a poison.

While Grey acknowledged the force’s "enormous amount of good" and regular commendations, he pointed to several officers taking long-term sick leave and a failure to maintain investigative oversight. The episode comes amid a record courts backlog—over 460,000 pending cases—and Labour’s proposed Courts and Tribunals Bill that would curtail jury trials to alleviate pressure. Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy condemned the plan, arguing it attacks a historic right without fixing systemic delays. Cambridgeshire Police said it accepts the judge’s criticism and has introduced measures to improve case management.