Solicitors refusing to take on ‘poorly paid’ burglary cases

BURGLARY victims face fresh court delays as lawyers refuse to take on cases they deem unprofitable

Solicitors say they receive £18 an hour to represent burglars in receipt of legal aid if they plead guilty and half that if the case goes to trial, the equivalent of the minimum wage.

They are, therefore, refusing to take on such cases and plan a similar stance on low-fee cases involving assaults on police and other emergency workers. It is thought to be the first time solicitors have taken action over legal aid fees paid by the Government.

The move is likely to add to record backlogs and delays in the magistrates and crown courts, where most burglaries are tried. Burglary victims face waits of more than two years for justice even if their case is solved.

Householders in some police force areas have to wait nearly 1,000 days from the reporting of an offence to a judgement in a crown court.

The action was originally launched by the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA) whose survey found 95 per cent of members backed refusing burglary cases.

An offer by the the Ministry of Justice to raise legal aid fees 15 per cent has been rejected.

Hesham Puri, LCCSA president, said: “We’re starting by refusing low-paid burglary cases, which simply don’t make sense economically. The days of goodwill gestures are over.

“We’ll no longer effectively pay for the ‘privilege’ to work. Unless the Government changes its plans … we’ll extend our action to include low-paid assaults on emergency workers.”

“We don’t take this action lightly – we believe in a fair defence for all, we believe in justice for victims, witnesses and defendants. But we have to say ‘enough is enough’, we have to stand up for those working in the system.”