The mother of a Wigan woman who reported historical sexual assaults has accused the police and Crown Prosecution Service of allowing the case to drift for years — a delay she says has caused lasting damage to her daughter and to other victims who lose heart waiting for justice.
Case timeline and outcome
The complaint was first made to police in 2021 when the victim, then aged 15, reported being assaulted on multiple occasions 21 months earlier. Despite that, the evidence file was not passed to prosecutors until April 2023, and formal charging did not take place until early 2024.
The trial was originally scheduled for 2025 but was pushed back because of limited court time at Bolton Crown Court; it was finally brought forward after the family protested and took place this year. After a four‑day trial the defendant, 28‑year‑old Shanley Horan, of McCulloch Drive, St Helens, was found guilty of all five counts that remained against him.
On 5 June 2026 Horan was sentenced to 45 months’ custody, given a 10‑year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to be placed on the sex offenders register for life.
| Key date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2019 (approx) | Alleged incidents took place (reported as occurring 21 months before 2021 complaint) |
| 2021 | Victim (then 15) reported assaults to police |
| April 2023 | Evidence file passed to Crown prosecutors |
| Early 2024 | Horan charged with 10 counts (later reduced to 5) |
| 2025 | Trial scheduled but delayed due to lack of court time |
| 2026 | Four‑day trial, conviction and sentencing on 5 June |
Family reaction and wider concerns
The victim, now 21, deferred university entry for two years because she did not want the court case to interrupt her studies. Her mother told local reporters she had to “kick up such a fuss” to get the hearing brought forward and that the whole process has been “disgraceful and ridiculous”.
"Time and again do we see that court cases and investigations — especially ones involving sexual offences — drag on for years and years. It's no wonder that some sex abuse victims give up or even take their own lives if they have to wait so many years for justice."
The mother’s comments underline a growing frustration among victims and campaigners about backlogs in the criminal justice system. In this case, the period between the initial report and sentencing stretched to around five years. She highlighted that this was a relatively straightforward case with a single complainant and a single accused, and questioned why it took so long to reach a conclusion.
- Victim from Spring View reported the offences in 2021; she was 15 at the time.
- The defendant, Shanley Horan, was convicted after a four‑day trial and jailed for 45 months on 5 June 2026.
- The family say delays were caused by slow police‑to‑CPS progression and lack of court capacity at Bolton Crown Court.
Local services and public concern
Professionals supporting sexual‑offence victims repeatedly warn that delays can deepen trauma, deter reporting and, in the worst cases, lead to self‑harm or suicide. This family’s experience — where a young woman deferred higher education and lived with the uncertainty of proceedings for years — will be familiar to many local support groups and survivors.
While the mother has been vocal about the personal toll, the case also raises questions for policing and court administrators about file handling and resource allocation. The specifics of why the evidence took until April 2023 to reach prosecutors were not detailed in reporting. Police, the CPS and court officials routinely cite high caseloads and shortage of court listings as drivers of delay; this family say that, for victims, those systemic problems have human consequences.
The conviction and sentence will bring some closure to the family, but the mother’s anger reflects wider concern across Wigan and neighbouring communities about the time it can take for alleged abusers to be brought before the courts and for victims to receive the resolution they deserve.
