Sunday Mail (UK)

Lawyer struck off over legal aid claims has been waiting 5 years for Crown’s decision

-

week laid bare a culture of delays at the Crown Office, whose annual budget tops £114million.

Legal experts and grieving families hit out over lengthy delays in probing tragedies and crimes.

Wolffe, who was appointed last year, has failed to give closure to families affected by the Clutha tragedy and relatives of M9 crash victims Lamara Bell and John Yuill, police custody fatality Sheku Bayoh and murdered Tracey Wilde.

The Crown have also failed to decide whether to prosecute four men for fraud following the failure of £400million hedge fund Heather Capital.

D’Alvito ran Edinburgh firm D’Alvito Defence Lawyers.

Since being struck off, he has been running a fish and chip shop in Grangemout­h, Stirlingsh­ire. He declined to comment.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Ker r said: “Ever yone appreciate­s some cases are extremely complex and can take some time even just to get to court.

“But it’s not acceptable to leave people in limbo for five years, all the while costing the taxpayer a fortune.”

Brian McConnachi­e QC said theth prosecutio­n service hadha been affected by underfundi­ngun and a fear of making the wrong decisionde­c in big cases. TheyTh faced a backlash afterafte deciding not to prosecutep­ros bin lorry driver HarryHar Clarke when he blackedbla­c out at the wheel and killed six people in GlasGlasgo­w in 2014. MeMeanwhi le, a fata l accidaccid­ent inquiry into the death of a motorist is due tto ststartttt­omorrow – almost two years after the accident. James Miller, 64, of Hawick, Roxburghsh­ire, died after his Vauxhall Cavalier collided with a Renault lorry travelling in the opposite direction on the A7. The accident happened near Teviothead, Roxburghsh­ire, on December 10, 2015. Five days have been set aside for the FAI, which will be held at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

 ??  ?? NO EXPLANATIO­N Wolffe, above left, and D’Alvito. Inset, our investigat­ion last week
NO EXPLANATIO­N Wolffe, above left, and D’Alvito. Inset, our investigat­ion last week

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom