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| Serious fraud trial halted amid legal row | Serious fraud trial halted amid legal row |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A judge has halted a serious fraud trial after defendants claimed they could not get adequate representation because of cuts to legal aid. | |
| Alex Cameron QC - the prime minister's brother, working free of charge on the bid to halt the case - said the defendants would not get a fair trial. | |
| The MoJ said "suitably qualified" advocates could have taken the case. | |
| The government has cut fees for such long and complex cases by 30%, says BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw. | |
| Judge Anthony Leonard told Southwark Crown Court that the defence had made "very substantial... but unsuccessful" efforts to find barristers to fight the defendants' case. | |
| Contracts terminated | |
| The case was brought last year by the Financial Conduct Authority against Scott Crawley and seven other men. | The case was brought last year by the Financial Conduct Authority against Scott Crawley and seven other men. |
| It concerned the activities of Plott UK Ltd, European Property Investments Ltd and Stirling Alexander Ltd. | It concerned the activities of Plott UK Ltd, European Property Investments Ltd and Stirling Alexander Ltd. |
| The companies are believed to have taken more than £5m from UK investors between 2008 and 2011, the FCA said at the time. | The companies are believed to have taken more than £5m from UK investors between 2008 and 2011, the FCA said at the time. |
| Arguing on Monday that the case against five of them should not go ahead, Mr Cameron said: "A stay is exceptional, but so is lack of representation in this country. We are worried about a fair trial. | |
| "It's not the fault of the FCA but we do [blame] the state more widely." | |
| The government has cut the fees for complex, high-cost cases by 30%, and in other Crown Court work by up to 18%. | |
| Nigel Lithman QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association which has been opposing government cuts to legal aid, said skilled and experienced advocates were essential in very high-cost cases (VHCCs). | |
| "Each advocate who had signed a contract to undertake a VHCC case was presented by the government with a choice - either to accept a 30% cut in their fees or to terminate their contract. They chose to terminate their contracts," he said. | |
| "Since then, we understand that no barrister has signed a new contract to undertake a VHCC at the reduced rates." | |
| Legal aid costs about £2bn a year - half goes on criminal defence and the rest on civil cases including mental health, asylum and family law involving domestic violence, forced marriage or child abduction. | |
| The Ministry of Justice said in a statement: "Barristers have refused to work on this case - and a number of other very high-cost court cases - because they do not agree with savings the government is making to legal aid. | |
| "Even after the savings, if a QC picked up a case like this one, they could expect to receive around £100, 000 for working on it, with a junior barrister receiving around £60,000. | |
| "The government has made sure that the Public Defender Service has a number of suitably qualified advocates who could act in this case." | |
| Lawyers have staged a number of number of protests, but these were suspended after the government said the cuts would not now come into force until at least the summer of 2015 - after the next general election. |