It is a matter of concern that legal aid has been cut, and we should be alert to any possible adverse consequences. Yet I cannot see that the case you report of Martin Stevens, sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to a bankruptcy fraud, is a good example (Ex-prisoner speaks out about life in High Down, Epsom Guardian, August 28).
As I understand the rules, the income threshold for losing the right to legal aid is very much higher in the case of a full trial on a not guilty plea than for a sentencing hearing after a guilty plea. This seems appropriate, as there is not so much to be argued about in court on a guilty plea. Should a plea of mitigating circumstances be any better received if it is packaged up by a defence lawyer rather than coming direct from the defendant?
Bankruptcy is a means of cancelling your debts, and thereby imposing losses on others that they would not have expected. In the process you would have to complete a sworn statement on your financial circumstances; and if you falsify it by concealing a significant financial asset, this is a serious matter. It seems unlikely to me that an intelligent person could do that through an innocent mistake; but if Mr Stevens really felt he could have made a reasonable case that this was what happened, he should not have needed a lawyer to tell him not to plead guilty.
As it happened he certainly should have been given credit for his guilty plea, which will have significantly reduced the costs of the trial, and for the fact that this was his first criminal conviction. Yet those factors alone do not add up to a free ticket to escape serious punishment for a rather serious offence.
Other factors, not detailed in your report, should also have had a bearing on sentencing. These would include the amount involved; and whether the "personal tragedies" in this case were experienced only by the fraudster, or whether that description could have been applied to the potential effects on any victims of the fraud.
Andy Thompson
Conrad Drive
Worcester Park
- Send your letters to: letters@epsomguardian.co.uk
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