Jay Blades denies rape and will not face trial for two years

By Josh Payne, Matthew Cooper and Stephanie Wareham, PA

TV presenter Jay Blades has denied two charges of rape and will not face trial for another two years.

The 55-year-old, who fronted primetime BBC show The Repair Shop, appeared by videolink at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday where he was told his trial will not take place until September 2027.

Blades’s defence counsel Susan Meek told the court the defendant had been unable to work since the allegations were made, adding: “It is an extraordinarily long time for him not to be able to work.”

It is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial but I am afraid there is just nothing I can do

At the conclusion of the hearing, which lasted 23 minutes, Judge Anthony Lowe expressed regret at the “backlog” causing the delay.

Judge Lowe said he was unable to “bump” other cases out of the list to accommodate an earlier trial.

He said: “I understand the application you make, Ms Meek, but the reality is, perhaps with the press’s attention on this case, it will at least bring it more to the public domain – the chronic position we are in, in relation to the backlog.”

The judge told Blades: “This matter will have to be decided by a jury.

“I am sorry to say that that will not take place for effectively over two years – until the 20th of September 2027.

“I regret that. Not as much as you do but I do regret it. It is not a proper justice system where people are having to wait that length of time for their trial but I am afraid there is just nothing I can do.

“That, I am afraid, is just the state of where we are with outstanding trials.”

The judge added that the timing of the trial may change, depending on other cases, but Blades “must assume it’s highly likely that the trial will not take place until then (September 2027)”.

Blades stepped back from presenting last year, after having found fame on the restoration programme The Repair Shop, which he started presenting in 2017.

He also appeared on Celebrity MasterChef, Celebrity Bake Off and Comic Relief, as well as presenting the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020.

Blades, of Claverley in Shropshire, was granted conditional bail until his trial in September 2027, with a case management hearing, that he is not required to attend, fixed for May 15th next year.