Posts tagged criminal appeals

Here is the beginning of a story that was picked up by the Scotland on Sunday and featured as a page lead on page five today…

CONVICTED criminals have received more than £17 million in legal aid to challenge the verdicts of Scottish courts over the past five years, it has been revealed.

Taxpayers helped fund more than 10,000 appeals, even though only one in 20 was successful in overturning a conviction.

With the cost of legal aid for criminals set to soar in coming years as more cases are referred to the Supreme Court in London as the final court of appeal, taxpayers’ groups warned yesterday that the situation was “spiralling out of control”.

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