I was concerned to read of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority's (CICA) attitude towards defence solicitors (see [2004] Gazette, 15 January, page 3).

I am currently instructed in a case of so-called historic abuse that is under serious consideration by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

One of our key submissions in the case is that the complainant has given a totally different account of the abuse she allegedly sustained to the CICA from that which she gave in evidence at Crown Court trial.

Anne Johnstone is wrong to suggest that disclosure from the CICA is simply about a potential financial motivation on the part of a complainant.

Instead, it is abundantly clear in a number of cases that the complainant has given an inconsistent account, and given the serious consequences of conviction such as in the case where we are instructed, it would be negligent of a defence solicitor not to investigate firstly whether a CICA application has been made, and secondly whether that application is in fact consistent with the evidence to be placed in front of a jury.

Edmund Conybeare, Shulmans, Leeds