A judge has reacted angrily after the ceiling of his court sprung a leak for the third time from overflowing toilets.

Resident Judge Jeremy Carey was today forced to move to another court following a complaint from a juror about being dripped on during a rape trial.

Hundreds of pounds was being lost in court time, he complained, because of poor maintenance.

The judge told the jury of 10 women and two men: “I must not get over-exercised about things, but I am sure you can understand the enormous frustration there is for the people who work in this building when it is not properly maintained.

“When you read about the cost of public services you never hear about the court service. Nobody cares about the court service.”

Judge Carey corrected himself: “I must be careful. There is a limited amount of people who care about the court service. This building is not being properly maintained.

“It is false economy to cut expenditure because we lose time. We lose court time which costs hundreds of pounds an hour.

“If we only had someone who actually cared about the building and acted when we call up to do it we would not lose time.

“Nobody seems to listen to me so I am venting my frustration on you. You heard it from the horse’s mouth.”

He was trying a long-running murder with six defendants in court seven earlier this year, he said, when one of the barristers said something was dripping on her.

“If we only had someone who actually cared about the building and acted when we call up to do it we would not lose time" - Judge Jeremy Carey

The second floor court had to be vacated and the maintenance company later gave an assurance it had been fixed.

But it happened again last week when a juror put his hand up and said he had been dripped on.

“Again, the urinals were overflowing,” said Judge Carey. “We had to vacate again and had a day in another court, causing inconvenience to all concerned.

“I was told again it had been remedied. Today, I am again told there is dripping in my court.”

He joked: “You are safe in this courtroom. I think it is far enough away from the urinals.”