A TRIAL over the theft of a bottle of children's medicine at St Albans Crown Court has cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds.

In fact, the £7,020 cost of the two day trial, which finished last Monday, would have paid for nearly 2,831 bottles of the stolen item, the children's paracetamol liquid, Calpol.

And to add insult to injury, after 26-year-old thief James Cook was found guilty by a jury, he walked free from court with a conditonal discharge.

Only a month ago this newspaper revealed that St Albans judge His Honour Colin Colston had warned of the problems caused by the court's huge backlog of cases.

In yet another twist, it was Judge Colston who was forced to spend nearly four hours presiding over the trial.

St Albans district councillor Tony Swendell, a retired senior police officer, said the trial illustrated the absurdity of the court system.

He said: "It would make much more sense for low-value thefts and other minor offences to be forced to go through magistrates' court.

"These minor cases take an amazing amount of court time and cost an amazing amount of money.

"We know the crown courts are in serious problems with the number of cases.

"There are cases which don't get to court for literally years.

"It is little cases like this that are blocking the way.

"The law should be changed."

The saga started in April last year, when James Cook, an alcoholic, of Broadwater Crescent, Welwyn Garden City with several previous convictions for shoplifting, stole the bottle of Calpol for his ill child.

He was seen by the manager and arrested nearby, but claimed he had purchased the medicine in another shop.

As theft is an "either-way" offence, he was able to insist on being tried by a crown court jury, rather than in a magistrates' court, which would have dealt with the case more quickly and far more cheaply.

In our article published on March 8, Judge Colston warned that it was his belief it would only be a matter of time before the courts were rocked by a "catastrophe".

He added that, at the time the court was suffering a huge backlog of 455 cases, and as a result, defendants were having to be released because their custody limits are being reached.

Judge Colston spoke after being forced to release a prisoner facing charges of under-age sex, sexual assault and intimidation.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Crown Prosecution Service said: "We reviewed all the evidence, and there was sufficient evidence to proceed.

"Given the prolific nature of his offending, it was in the public interest to do so.

"In cases of theft, the defendant is entitled to elect a crown court trial, and he did so in this case."