A 17-year-old jailed after a crash on the A47 in Norfolk which killed an unborn baby has been given legal aid to try to keep his name out of the media. King's Lynn Magistrates ruled the youth, from the Wisbech area of Cambs, should be named so the public could call police if he was behind a wheel.
But they said he should remain anonymous until his lawyers tried to challenge the ruling in a higher court. On Friday it emerged he was given legal aid to go to the High Court.
The theory is a little different :
The key goals for criminal justice are to help reduce crime by bringing more offences to justice, and to raise public confidence that the system is fair and will deliver for the law-abiding citizen.
But the practice ?
The Legal Services Commission, which assesses legal aid claims, said the Commission was obliged to look at every case objectively and base a decision on financial eligibility and a case's legal merits.
"We cannot differentiate between applicants for legal aid on the grounds that a decision to grant funding may be unpopular in a particular case," a spokesperson said.
In other words : "up yours, Joe Public".
UPDATE - and here's our old mate Lord Justice Woolf, "helping to deliver for the law-abiding citizen".
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