I have read about Crown Court legal aid and the current problems surrounding it, but do people not realise that legal aid in the magistrates’ court is a much bigger problem?

I agree that the idea of cases progressing faster is usually a good thing. However, the means-testing system causes delays, with legal aid officers asking for more and more information.

I dealt with a case recently involving a domestic assault. The defendant’s income goes directly to the victim.

The legal aid officer is saying we have to obtain the bank statements of the victim in order to prove this.

I remember means-testing was brought in to stop MPs and footballers obtaining legal aid, but this has meant that any person who isn’t on a passported benefit has great difficulty in an era of ‘speedy justice’.

John Cooper, Paisleys, Workington