Man convicted of legal aid fraud

A MAN who claimed £1,400 of legal aid while he had almost £60,000 in savings has been ordered to do 200 hours of community service.

Lawrence Howkins, 47, claimed the money to employ solicitors to represent him at six hearings over domestic problems at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in December 2006.

But an audit by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) showed Howkins had around £7,000 in his HBOS current account, with another £50,000 in a high interest saving plan.

Rules governing the granting of legal aid state that anyone with over £7,000 in savings should pay at least some of their own costs.

And today at Edinburgh Sheriff Court Howkins was ordered to do unpaid work after admitting six charges of fraud.

Fiscal depute Mina Poppius told the court how Howkins had been represented by solicitors during six appearances at the capital's sheriff court during December 2006.

But when he filled out his legal aid forms, he failed to declare his savings.

And when a routine check of his claim was carried out, HBOS confirmed to SLAB that Howkins should not have been claiming for help to pay lawyers.
His solicitor, Ewen Roy, said his client had not wanted to access the high interest account as it would have effected how much it earned.

Mr Roy said Howkins – who cannot work due to an arm injury – had repaid the money in full in March and asked Sheriff Katherine Mackie to consider a non-custodial sentence.

Sheriff Mackie slammed Howkins for using up public money that had been set aside for those who really cannot afford legal help.

She said: "This is a very serious offence.

"There are people who are looking for access to financial assistance for justice and if you have people like Mr Howkins who are seeking to access legal aid when they don't have the need for it then it is a smaller pot of money."

Sheriff Mackie told Howkins: "It is quite clear that you had significant funds available to you but nonetheless you sought to obtain legal aid which will have deprived others.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this offence merits a custodial sentence."

But Sheriff Mackie said the fact that he had admitted his guilt at an early stage and paid back the money meant she could impose an alternative.
She sentenced Howkins, of Morrison Gardens, South Queensferry, to 200 hours of community service.