A Merseyside firm which was initially offered a legal aid fee based on just 4% of the pages of prosecution evidence submitted has succeeded in an appeal against the Legal Aid Agency. 

IMS Law Limited, based in St Helen’s, Merseyside, initially submitted a claim for 6,213 pages of prosecution evidence which was assessed by a determining officer at the LAA at 250 pages. On redetermination, this was increased to 1,358 pages. The firm claimed a reduced number of 4,484 pages of prosecution evidence.

The firm had represented Steven Parle at Liverpool Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a prohibited firearm but claimed he did not know what was in a bag delivered to him or that his possession was as a result of coercion. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.

Two exhibits, including a ‘full extraction’ report from a mobile phone seized by police, were disputed. The judgment highlighted in one of the exhibits ‘the categories that remain in dispute are contacts, cookies, e-mails, installed applications, locations, searched items, databases, images, and videos’ while the second exhibit, which was disclosed first, was disputed in its entirety. 

Speaking of the exhibit disputed in its entirety, costs judge Whalan said: 'It was reasonable and necessary for the appellants to review the datum in [exhibit] 1708 before service of the subsequent (and, in part, duplicative exhibit 1509), at least because it was this consideration that revealed problems with the prosecution’s disclosure and led to the service of the second exhibit.’

Allowing the appeal, the judge directed the firm’s claim ‘be assessed by reference to a PPE count of 4,484’.

The firm was also awarded £750 costs, plus any VAT payable ‘along with the £100 paid when lodging the appeal’.

 

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