A black rights activist is set to face trial in 2028 after denying two sexual offences against a woman.
Marc Wadsworth, 70, allegedly touched the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - and assaulted her by penetration on September 5 2022.
The defendant, who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2018, appeared at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday to plead not guilty to sexual assault and assault by penetration.
His five-day trial was set for July 17 2028.
Judge Anthony Dunne granted the defendant conditional bail and also expressed "an apology that your trial is not going to be until July 17 2028".
"It is the best that I can do," the judge added.
The court heard other cases were being fixed for trial in 2030.
Wadsworth was expelled from the Labour Party after he challenged former MP Ruth Smeeth at a 2016 press conference launching the Chakrabarti report on antisemitism.
He founded the Anti-Racist Alliance in 1991 and is a civil rights campaigner, lecturer and author.
