The adage about the wheels of justice turning slowly has taken on a new meaning in the Illawarra as the backlog of District Court trials continues to grow longer.Paul Conlon, this region's only District Court judge, has revealed that the number of trials being carried over from this year into 2010 has skyrocketed to such a degree that a second judge is required for Wollongong to end the judicial logjam.On top of this workload, the Wollongong District Court also expects to handle dozens of sentencing matters and appeals from the Local Court in the coming year.The court's chief judge is prepared to provide a second judge, however the stumbling block is an overworked and under-resourced regional office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.There are three Crown prosecutors based in Wollongong, but one of them is on indefinite sick leave while the other two have to not only handle 80 trials next year, but also conduct trials in Bega, Goulburn and Nowra.Such an overwhelming workload on our judicial officers serves nobody's interest, not least of all those people - many of them in custody on remand - who are being forced to wait longer to have their cases heard.The State Government must act swiftly because justice delayed is justice denied.