CrimeLine
@CrimeLineLaw
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Digital knowledge platform for criminal law & regulatory professionals. Andrew Keogh, Barrister
Manchester, England
Joined February 2011
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If you are considering a CrimeLine Membership for the first time, check out what your colleagues have to say about it
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I am sat near a teacher (on holiday) who has spent more than an hour (so far) on a call to his school, insisting on speaking to each pupil and congratulating them on their results. Not sure who is happier, him or the pupils.
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Judge Owen Davies, QC, has allowed a cocaine user to walk free from court with a 12-month conditional discharge, after suggesting during legal argument with the defence that the defendant " should suffer no more for dabbling in cocaine than should a former Lord Chancellor."
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It is quite difficult to process the true gravity of the Letby case. It doesn’t require a particularly long career in criminal law to read things that are for most unimaginable. But today, well. I was struck by the pain etched on the face of the Sky News presenter outside court
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Re: Sue Gray. Everyone is assuming that the Met is only investigating Cake Gate. What recent history tells us is that mobile phone loss and data deletion across the Westminster estate appears to be a lot higher than the national average....Perhaps there is a more serious issue?
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Sexual assault is core police business
The charming Stanley Johnson can be a little over-friendly -indeed handsy - but I don’t believe this is one for the police. Officers should focus their limited resources on investigating real crimes.
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I read a few thousand judgments each year, and have done for more years that I care to remember. This is the most powerful judgment I have ever read. The sadness of it all is quite shocking.
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When we talk about prisons and prisoners the rhetoric if mostly focussed on "bad people", and there certainly are quite a few of those rightly locked up. But it doesn't take a long career in criminal law/justice to realise that there are also people who are simply broken.
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Meanwhile the rest of the nation can wait weeks for a reply to an email sent to the County Court
While Cameron squirms over how many times he used the Greensill private jet, I understand that No 10 has managed to get the county court judgement against the PM struck out
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This is why you should never go into a police interview without a solicitor. Not a shred of doubt that the Castle Barnard trip was illegal activity.
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Let me spell it out. Sir Christopher Bellamy QC was appointed by the Government to carry out an independent review of criminal legal aid.
His central recommendation was:
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Senior Presiding Judge, Edis LJ, has asked judges to adjourn, from next week, the sentencing of offenders who are on bail where custody is likely to be imposed. The prison estate is full.
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In a number of newspapers today: Nearly 150 rape trials have collapsed in the past year due to victims pulling out of prosecutions in despair after waiting years for justice. Victim withdrawal accounts for half of prosecutions failing in some areas. The rape case backlog has
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It’s the narrative that is wrong. A well funded criminal defence ensures the right guilty person is convicted. It also ensures the innocent person is acquitted. It’s really that simple. What’s not to like about that?
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1. So, how does a millionaire get legal aid? Let us take a closer look at this story
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No, it won’t. Anyone in the UK is fully entitled to say such things if they wish. Public order and communications laws only outlaw such comments when used in contexts and environments and ways which are not consistent with a qualified right of free speech. If anyone would like
What in the fresh hell is this?
Saying you don’t want your tax money to go to immigrants who rape kids and get priority, will land you 20 months in prison in the UK?
So you’re forced to pay for your own destruction and if you speak up about it, they put you in jail.
Tyrants.
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Re: Sue Gray report. There are two possibilities here, either proceedings are already active (so an arrest, warrant, or proceedings issues (latter not likely), or, and this is obvious really, that such is imminent. Therefore it is likely to be more of a request by The Met
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Whatever might be said about the criminal justice system, take it from me that conveyancing is the most dysfunctional legal process known to man. The person who cures this legal evil will become a very rich person.
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Many of the MPs complaining about police and prosecution failures are the same ones that voted through the Budget. Cuts have consequences, surely they knew that?
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We should do so much better than this.
NEW - EXCLUSIVE The Ministry of Justice
@MoJGovUK
guide for newly-released homeless prisoners: use newspapers & cardboard to stay warm on the streets, wash in restaurant toilets, “look normal, act and smell like you are not homeless”
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[thread] Breaking: HHJ Raynor who declined to extend CTLs in a published ruling this week is to make a formal complaint in relation to the case and the alleged conduct of other judges in connection with it.
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Probably one of the loveliest things you will read today
This time last week I got the train to my Grandma's and shared part of my journey with 2 lovely men. They'd never met before but instantly hit it off and laughed like they'd been best friends for years.
I scribbled a note to them as I got off the train...and I got a reply!!😍🤗
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The report may well contain detail that could potentially advantage a suspect. One of the great advantages that police enjoy is control of disclosure during a police investigation. I can see why they would not wish to lose that.
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Fast turning into the largest miscarriage of justice case in our legal history.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: The Post Office is now reviewing the cases of *900 postmasters* who may have been wrongfully convicted
The case are part of the IT Horizon scandal - Britain's biggest ever miscarriage of justice - and could be sent to Court of Appeal to be overturned. [1/n]
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Bereaved families at inquests will be able to apply for legal representation through exceptional case funding without means testing from 12 January 2022.
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Make it a double. No, leave the bottle.
Robert Buckland now in Commons too - suggestion that Raab might go to Ministry of Justice, his current berth …
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This comes after Michael Gove revealed he had taken cocaine on several occasions in his 30s.
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There are 57,516 cases outstanding in the Crown Court, it was 39,331 pre-covid. Again, whilst the figures bob up and down a little, no progress is being made in shifting this backlog. This is because no money is being spent. A new financial year has begun, so lets see.
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@KTHopkins
@BarristerSecret
Contempt is more often than not dealt with on the spot, as indicated by the Criminal Procedure Rules
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Of course, Lucy Letby herself received £0. My only surprise is that the total costs are so low given the complexity, gravity and length of the trial.
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This has been brought to my attention and I am most pleased to share it with you
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Government to scrap 'innocence tax' on acquitted defendants' legal fees
Justice secretary Alex Chalk has announced that the Government will drop the "innocence tax" rule, which allows the Legal Aid Agency to force acquitted defendants to pay part of their defence fees after
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Crime suspects are entitled to a "reasonable" expectation of privacy because they could turn out to be innocent like Sir Cliff Richard, judges say. In a landmark judgment yesterday, the Court of Appeal said that police inquiries should not be made public before charges are
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Around 50% of people have no legal representation at the police station, despite it being free of charge. How about a campaign to do something to address this shocking statistic?
#practical
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.
@BAILII
were given a paltry £50,000 a year to publish judgments. This funding has ceased. They will now be published by the National Archives. The staffing and other costs of that project are near to £150,000 p.a. From Friday they will be available here:
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LAW STUDENTS: Court of Appeal sitting at Cardiff Crown Ct tomorrow (ct 2), great opportunity to see the court in action. Bench: Lady Justice Nicola Davies, Mrs Justice Jefford and Mrs Justice Thornton.
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"that the funding for criminal legal aid should be increased...as soon as possible to an annual level, in steady state, of at least 15% above present levels, which would in broad terms represent additional annual funding of some £135 million per annum."
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No significant link exists between ethnicity and carrying a knife, according to a briefing paper sent to every police force in England and Wales. Instead, the College of Policing document says offenders and victims are most likely to be young adult males, with risk factors
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If the bar strike holds for more than a couple of weeks the government will need to explore emergency funding to support solicitors. If cases are not progressing to conclusion and being paid there is a real risk of complete market collapse.
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In the finest traditions of the bar. We can sleep easily knowing that the right person was convicted. Proper defence is an essential constitutional safeguard. Well done to you both on behalf of us all.
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The guy made a mistake, give him a break
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Magistrates Court backlog is 375,687 UP from the previous months 375,687. Crown Court is 58,350 down from 59,058, BUT there was a dramatic 1600 fall in receipts which you don't mention, so I suspect in reality it will rise again pretty sharply.
I'm pleased the Crown Court backlog has fallen for the fourth consecutive month - thanks to Nightingale Courts, unlimited sitting days, super courts and new tech.
The hard work of everyone in the criminal justice system is helping to reverse the damaging effects of the pandemic.
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In a letter to the Times, Sir Christopher Rose, former vice-president of the Court of Appeal, says abolishing the requirement for lord chancellors to be legally qualified has diminished the role and contributed to poor morale in the judiciary and the criminal bar.
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Hmmm, if you get your legal advice from the back of a cardboard box then this is what you deserve, otherwise please know that almost every criminal solicitor in London is in fact a duty solicitor
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Milly Vincent at the
@MailOnline
knows this of course, she rights this rubbish because she isn't a proper journalist and unfortunately has to peddle this rubbish for a living. I feel sorry for you.
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Legal aid review starting January 2019 reporting in 2020, and you think that’s a result? It’s called long grass. Wake up people. Today, crossrail added £2+ Billion (yes Billion) to the bottom line. Barely a murmour. Wake up.
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@Dowellenough
I don’t know. Many years ago I did a Masters in Legal Aspects of Medical Practice at Cardiff University. It attracted a diverse range of students, one of whom was a psychiatrist who worked in the military. During one of many discussions he made an observation I have always been
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A big HT to
@JoSidhuQC
and the team
@TheCriminalBar
for a brilliant effort explaining the current predicament to the general public. The first time I’ve seen this done in nearly 30 years.
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Never in the field of criminal justice are so many white collar criminal lawyers going to charge so much, to so many (taxpayers), for the benefit of so few (alleged partygoers) for so little (legal advice).
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It cost £22,201 to decommission Telford County Court, it then cost £251,421 to reopen it as a Nightingale Court. Fleetwood Magistrates' Court was closed at a cost of £49,267 and reopened at a cost of £150,312.
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The Queen has appointed Rebecca Mary Herbert to be a Circuit Judge based at Luton Crown Court with effect from 8 April 2019 on a salaried part time basis of 80%.
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If the police say you don’t need a solicitor, ask them first why the Police Federation has a Police Officer Legal Assistance Scheme for their own.
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In relation to the magistrates court backlog of 468000 cases, it is worth noting that it stood at 407,000 cases pre-covid, so there was no slack in the system to cope with this pandemic.
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Tomorrow an offence that today carries a max of 14 years imprisonment will carry life imprisonment. The legal aid fee will not change one single penny. Imagine being charged with that offence and considering what representation is worth.
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"In summary I feel that I was subjected to improper and undue influence by [redacted]".
"I feel that this matter must be made public."
"In an abundance of caution I also sending a copy to Sir John Saunders." (sic)
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as opposed to a reminder of s 1 Contempt of Court Act 1981. But it seems sensible, why would anyone wish to prejudice intended or likely criminal proceedings? Seems to me that Sue Gray would be acting in a grossly irresponsible manner to ignore the request.
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Total income for criminal barristers from public funding (so legal aid) was £182.50m in 2019/20. In 2020/21 it was £111.99m. A 39% drop, which was not compensated by Covid support schemes, and will never be recovered in the future.
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One of the most shocking threads you’ll ever read
AMERICA, WE ARE AT THE EDGE OF A PRECIPICE.
Yesterday, as Trump was ranting about “shithole countries,” I was in a county courthouse in Georgia looking at a death certificate for a black man who died in 1930. I watched the courthouse employees’ faces... 1/
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👇being trolled by the Bar Council - a new low for a Lord Chancellor
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It would appear that these are not the words spoken by the District Judge; the exact text is now available
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This is what the Health & Safety Executive says about written interviews in its enforcement guidance.
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6. BUT BUT BUT he was ACQUITTED. So another way of writing this headline is "Innocent Man Does Not Pay for His Legal Defence". Again, most people would think that fair.
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@tomgeorgefilm
@BarristerSecret
@Mark_George_KC
@Joe2DP
@kieran2013
@gcnchambers
A lot of barristers aspire to make a difference, and most do. But very few make a contribution to social justice of the magnitude your Father did.
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Channel 4 plans to provide insight into the workings of the justice system with a four-part series titled "The Murder Retrial." The show will recreate a domestic violence case from 2012 using original transcripts, featuring two separate juries of real people who are unaware of
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The Recorder is correct about this: 'It cannot be proper': Why this rapist was fined just £120 for naming and degrading his victim on Facebook
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The next problem he will face, probably for the rest of his life, is enhanced criminal record disclosure, showing he was charged with rape - not a lot of people talking about that horrific aspect of these cases
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Oh dear. No duty solicitor is employed by the government (although legal aid is provided for by government, so State finances). No duty solicitor in the history of man has ever been subservient to the government - solicitors are bound by ethical rules. The CPS does not employ
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Members of the judiciary have raised concerns over the £1.2bn court modernisation programme voicing fears the reforms were "driven by austerity and the need to achieve savings, rather than by providing an improved service for the public, the judiciary or staff".
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Beyond parody
NEW: The Met Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over its decision not to investigate the Downing Street Christmas party despite video evidence leaked to
@itvnews
.
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As the weekend draws to a close I toast
@TheMrsKeogh
as we celebrate 25 years of marriage. Many of you have been on the entire journey and some of you joined us last night for the party. I love ❤️ you my darling.
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The real story here is legal costs of £100k, quite disgusting when murderers are prosecuted for a fraction of that. He cuts a sad figure and this is kicking a dog in the gutter.
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Barrister and advocate for women’s rights Helena Normanton receives English Heritage London blue plaque
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Justice Secretary quoted in the press today: The Government will change the law to lengthen the time that offenders can be held before a trial from 182 days to 238. [this can be done by statutory instrument]
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Prison Minister Rory Stewart has announced that prison sentences of less than six months are to be scrapped in favour of community sentences. Mr Stewart said those sent to prison for short periods were more likely to reoffend than those given community sentences.
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The law in this case if of no particular consequence. However, paragraphs 23 to 28 are most probably the nicest thing you will read today
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I suppose mentioning the maximum penalty for theft and also that the government can ask for review of a sentencing guideline would be churlish
Under government plans, people who steal a canine companion could face up to five years in jail if convicted of dog abduction, under a proposed new criminal offence
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@KTHopkins
@BarristerSecret
Here's one, I could find dozens upon dozens of contempt sentences between 12-24 months
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This from the journalist actually in court
Deeply misleading headline on this
@thetimes
rewrite of my court story: ”Good grammar” most certainly did not keep them out of jail - given their ages, lack of previous, and relatively small scale of the dealing they were never likely to be locked up.
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.
@keatingchambers
has, generously, offered to fund a criminal pupillage for this year in the sum of £20,000. If a Chambers has had to withdraw such an offer and disappoint an applicant because of the current crisis, please contact
@TheCriminalBar
with details.
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Jury trial resumption: Has anyone consulted the hundreds of criminal firms with furloughed staff who are as yet unable to move to a safe (whatever that is) working environment?
#rhetorical
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Tomorrow: Day 2 of Nightingale courts - a court still not sitting. 43,000 case backlog and they cannot find a single case to fill it. Beyond parody.
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Raynor states that 'I felt I was being pressurised into granting the CTL extension..'
'I was now very concerned indeed. I took this as a clear indication that I must “side “ with the LCJ and grant the CTL extension application...'
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The High Court has today (22 June) granted the Law Society permission to bring a judicial review challenge against the government. The application for permission was made after the government failed to increase criminal defence solicitors’ legal aid rates by the bare minimum 15%,
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Comment: when they say “foreign criminals” they mean people whose first language is not English. This is the same paper that regularly reports the plight of Britons incarcerated abroad.
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Statement from Nick Vineall KC:
Some elements of the tabloid press have recently been stirring up trouble by misreporting the Bar Council’s position on the cab rank rule. So let me again state what it is, recognising that in any particular case the interpretation and application
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Letby: Key evidence in the prosecution case
Medical records – these were crucial to establish the condition of the babies when they were attacked. When some babies recovered, the speed of their recovery was too sudden to be seen as a natural occurrence. Several medical documents
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It isn’t as complex as people suggest to implement the
@RichardMoorhead
proposal. A short piece of legislation could quash convictions cited in a schedule (with the power to add others later if they came to light). That would cut everyone other than parliament out of the loop.
Sunak considers measures to clear all Post Office victims - BBC News
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First and most important “is your right to free and independent legal advice”. No
@metpoliceuk
it is means tested advice and assistance, so I doubt anyone receiving this would be eligible
Revealed: ITV News obtains partygate questionnaire as Boris Johnson awaits possible fine | ITV News
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.
@TheCriminalBar
Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair, and Tana Adkin KC, Vice Chair will meet with the Lord Chancellor later today.
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£237.25 for central London tonight; on 2 December 2013 it was £260
I’m on call tonight. And it’s the same fixed fee as it was years and years and years ago when it comes to representing suspects in custody. I’m not sure this profession can take it any more when we’re being repeatedly rinsed. We are all tired of propping up the sinking ship.
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