A JUDGE has spoken out about criminal justice delays because it took two years to put two street muggers before the court.

Joanne Nicola Ayre and Sharon Elizabeth Eldin came up behind a child minder as she was walking home at night, shoved her to the ground and grabbed her handbag before running off, said Alex Menary, prosecuting.

In a victim personal statement, the child minder described how the incident had traumatised her and left her feeling unsafe on her own..

But though police had CCTV of the two using the victim’s bank card and arrested the pair within hours, the women were not put before a court for two years.

Mr Menary said he had not been given an explanation for the delay by the police or the CPS.

Judge Simon Hickey called the delay “inexplicable”, adding: “Delay is insidious in criminal cases and it is growing more and more in this crisis”

He said it put stress on the victim and the victim’s family as they wait for the case to conclude.

It put stress on the defendants waiting to know their fate.

“It puts the sentencing judge in an impossible situation,” he said.

Two and a half years after the robbery in September 2017, he jailed Ayre, 49, of The Laurels, Barlby, for 12 months at York Crown Court.

Eldin, 49, of New Millgate, Selby, was jailed for 16 months in April.

Both admitted robbery and four charges of bank card fraud.

For Ayre, Graham Parkin said she had been advised she should stay at home because she had “very acute asthma”. But she had defied the advice and travelled to court.

At the time of the robbery, she had been on drugs but was now getting help and counselling for a family tragedy.

She was needed at home.