Bankrupt Thai Golf firm represents suspects

 

The Legal Services Commission (LSC), which runs Legal Aid, chose Bostalls, an unregulated commercial body not owned by lawyers, to provide telephone advice to suspects being held in police stations, something previously reserved to solicitors.

 Bostalls has gone bust, owing unpaid taxes.

The Law Society at the time criticized the decision to allow such an unregulated body to deliver legal services, rightly describing it as an Alternative Business Structure by the back door.

 Andy Scripture, Managing Director, of Bostalls Bust said:

 “We were looking to do other things and distribute golfing aids from Thailand in the UK but the articles of association for Bostalls limited it to the provision of legal services”.

Lesson learnt?  Not a bit of it!  The LSC has transferred the contract for the Criminal Defence Service (Direct) Scheme to Shaftesbury, a new company set up by ……Mr Scripture!

Asked if such a contract should be given to a company, which in another guise had been wound-up for non-payment of taxes, an LSC spokesman said: 

“The LSC is satisfied public monies are being spent appropriately”.

Really?  So that will be just the two of you – you and Mr Scripture – who think that.

Kafka where are you?

Judicial enquiry in to the Legal Services Commission where are you?

National press where are you?

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