£7k of public money used for appeal of city fireraiser

A MAN who set a Dundee policeman’s car on fire was granted more than £7,000 of public money for lawyers to appeal his conviction.

William Handy, 55, was found guilty of wilful fireraising following a trial last June at Aberdeen High Court.

Handy was irritated at being subject of surveillance by PC David Farr and PC Ross Clark who were investigating if he had links to criminal activity.

The Crown argued Handy had “instigated” Dundee personal trainer Craig Guest, 33, to set PC Farr’s personal car on fire and the jury agreed by majority and convicted Handy.

The businessman was jailed for five years at Edinburgh High Court in July but his representatives confirmed he would appeal conviction.

Now the Tele can reveal Handy’s solicitor received £1,678.26 of legal aid to work on the case, while his counsel was paid £5,777.28 — costing the taxpayer a total of £7,455.54.

The basis of his appeal was that during the trial, Judge Lord Woolman incorrectly refused a submission made by Handy’s agent Mark Stewart QC.

Once Guest pleaded guilty to wilful fireraising, Mr Stewart argued there was insufficient evidence against Handy. But Lord Woolman repelled the submission and allowed the trial to proceed.

Following deliberations by Lord Menzies, Lord Turnbull and Lady Cosgrove, they refused Handy’s appeal.

The figures also show representatives of Lativian national Aldis Minakovskis received £3,739.14 of legal aid to appeal the length of his sentence for killing best friend Aigars Upenieks in Menzieshill. In that case, judges agreed to reduce his 13 years and eight month prison sentence by five years.

Scottish Conservative North East MSP Bill Bowman said: “People are, of course, well within their right to seek legal aid in order to appeal cases. We must however be careful we’re not continuously spending valuable taxpayers’ money on pointless appeals.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: “Legal aid can be made available for an appeal against sentence or conviction if the applicant meets the statutory tests set by the Scottish Parliament and leave to appeal has been granted by the court.

“Legal aid is paid directly to a solicitor and the assisted person never receives direct access to any public funds.”