A former High Court judge has spoken out about how the lack of legal aid funding is leading to miscarriages of justice. Sir Richard Henriques was interviewed in a programme that featured the case of a man who was acquitted after five years in prison after having been wrongly convicted of child abuse. He was not eligible for legal aid and spent more than £500,000 to clear his name.
‘Those who undertake legal aid work are not financed to the same degree as those that do private – they are not able to provide the same service – and there is a real danger of a miscarriage of justice in either direction, pro prosecution, or defence,’ Sir Richard told the BBC. ‘That is plainly a weakness in our system.’ According to the BBC investigation, there were 31,000 trials in England and Wales last year, and in 12,000 of there were acquittals and many who go through that ordeal do not get legal aid support.