A judge has taken a swipe at the “collapsing” justice system as CPS failures cause yet another sex trial to collapse.

Judge David Ticehurst was forced to halt a child sex assault case after the prosecution produced a number of documents the defence had not previously seen midway through the hearing.

His decision follows a number of high-profile rape cases in other parts of the country being dismissed because vital evidence had not been provided by the police or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Judge Ticehurst had been sitting on the trial of Michael Doughty, 30, who was facing three counts of sexual assault against a girl aged under 13 at Taunton Crown Court in Somerset.

He dismissed the jury on Thursday and ordered a retrial, adding that if he was a newspaper reporter his headline would read: "Yet another case collapses because the CPS fails to disclose documents."

He said the problem could be attributed to budget cuts, adding: "It is abundantly clear the criminal justice system is creaking - it's collapsing.

"Members of the public will cease to have any confidence in the justice system.

"It's falling apart and this is one of the consequences.

"I'm not blaming the CPS or the police."