'Frankly horrifying': Judge blasts Cambridgeshire Police for 'unacceptable lack of grip' on investigation after case of mother who poisoned her daughter with insulin took seven years to reach court

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 07:54 EDT, 29 September 2026 | Updated: 07:59 EDT, 29 September 2026 A judge has condemned ‘frankly horrifying’ delays caused by police that meant a case involving a mother who injected her daughter with insulin took more than seven years to reach court.Judge Philip Grey complained there had been an ‘unacceptable lack of grip’ in the police investigation, during which several officers went on long-term sick leave.Any ‘competent’ organisation should be able to handle such issues, he added.The defendant, who is in her 20s and has a history of mental health issues, admitted administering a poison or noxious substance with intent and was given a suspended 18-month jail term on Friday.Cambridge Crown Court heard her then 16-month-old daughter had been hospitalised in 2019 after she injected her with insulin.She then injected the girl twice more while she was still in hospital. Fortunately, the child made a full recovery.During sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Grey made it clear that Cambridgeshire Police did ‘an enormous amount of good’ and highlighted the fact that he formally commends officers on a regular basis. Judge Philip Grey criticised ‘frankly horrifying’ delays caused by police that meant a poisoning case took more than seven years to reach courtBut he added it was ‘frankly horrifying that it took over seven years to bring this case to court’.‘Judges are regrettably becoming used to this but this is off the scale,’ he said.Last week it emerged the courts backlog had soared by more than 100,000 cases since Labour came to power, hitting a record high of more than 460,000.Delays for trials, often running into years, have led to criminals escaping justice as some victims – including rape victims – refused to continue engaging with the distressing process.Ministry of Justice figures showed there was a new high of 80,829 cases waiting to be heard in Crown courts in England and Wales at the end of June.And in the magistrates’ courts the figure was 380,230, up nine per cent in a year.It gave a combined backlog of 461,059, up 98,725 on the figure at the end of June 2024, a few days before the last General Election. Cambridge Crown Court heard that a then 16-month-old girl had been hospitalised in 2019 after she injected her with insulin by her motherLabour has been pursuing controversial changes to the courts system which will see the historic right to jury trial scrapped for thousands of cases a year in an attempt to bring the backlog down.The Courts and Tribunals Bill introducing the changes is due back before Parliament next month.Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy has attacked the plan, saying Labour have ‘spent their time in office attacking our ancient right to a jury trial, rather than taking effective action to tackle the courts crisis’.A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said of the poisoning case: ‘We acknowledge and agree with the judge's comments that the delay in this case was unacceptable.‘Our aim is to ensure that all cases progress with the timeliness required for victims, families, and the wider criminal justice process.‘We are committed to preventing this kind of delay happening again and last year brought in changes to ensure complex cases receive the supervisory oversight and continuity of investigation that this case lacked.’