A councillor accused of multiple sexual offences dating back almost 40 years has appeared in court alongside his wife and son.

James Hall, who represents Murston ward in Sittingbourne, pleaded not guilty to a total of 31 charges in respect of five complainants, including children, when he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court today (August 27).

It is alleged he committed six offences of rape, nine of indecency with a child, 12 of indecent assault, one of sexual assault and three of cruelty between July 1986 and December 2005.

The 75-year-old has served on Swale council since 2015 and lives in Tonge Road, Murston.

He was joined at the plea and trial preparation hearing by his 62-year-old wife, Lory, who pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape and two of cruelty.

They sat alongside their 31-year-old son Ryan Hall, of Limehouse Court, Sittingbourne, who denied attempting to pervert the course of justice, an offence alleged to have occurred in August last year.

But all three were told their trial could not start for another two years, leading to Judge Robert Lazarus expressing his concern at such a delay.

Fixing the four-week long hearing to get under way on October 26, 2026, he said: “I am not happy with that. It isn’t fair for you to have to wait for so long for that trial.

“Equally, it isn’t fair for the people making these allegations to wait this long.

“But the simple fact of the matter is that we have a waiting list and we don’t have any other date in which to accommodate it.”

A further hearing in respect of James and Lory Hall will be held on September 5, with a case management hearing for the couple and their son on February 6 next year.

In the meantime, they are all subject to conditional bail.

At the time James Hall was charged, a spokesman for the local authority said it had no legal power to suspend a councillor charged with criminal activity.