Criminal Behaviour


I have been in practice for nearly 40 years specialising in crime. I have been chairman of my local duty solicitor committee. Never in the whole time I have been in practice have I been so angry, frustrated and demoralised as I am by the current shambles regarding police station work.



The 'guidance' which has been issued to police forces by the Legal Services Commission is flawed, resulting in people who are arrested being given the wrong information regarding their entitlement to free advice from a solicitor of their own choice, in breach of the codes of practice.



Those who are suffering are our clients and the profession. If I were cynical I would wonder if this was a deliberate ploy on the part of the commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers, who apparently have consulted over the 'guidance', to undermine the status of solicitors, reduce even further our income and deprive detained persons of their lawful entitlement. I despair.



Sandra Keen, York