Fury as terrorist who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess given £100,000 in Legal Aid for trial
THE terrorist who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess benefited from £100,000 in Legal Aid for his trial, The Sun can reveal.
The total was reached despite jihadist Ali Harbi Ali admitting he carried out the killing.
Figures obtained from the Legal Aid Agency under Freedom of Information laws show £44,373 was spent on a firm of solicitors who worked at court and a police station.
And the bill was sent spiralling to six figures after £55,655 was paid to two barristers who represented him at his Old Bailey trial, which lasted seven days in April 2022.
Ali repeatedly stabbed the MP in October 2021 at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
Ali admitted the killing, but denied murder — claiming he was protecting fellow Muslims.
He told one barrister to say nothing in mitigation before he was sentenced to life in jail.
Tory MP Nigel Mills said: “This is a ridiculous amount of money.
“Did he really need two barristers to argue his case when he admitted the killing? There should be a cap on how much people can claim on cases like this.”
David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It beggars belief that the taxpayer has had to stump up a six-figure sum to line the pockets of his legal team.
“This is an appalling waste of taxpayers’ money. But it comes as no surprise since the Ministry of Justice has so far failed to deliver the much needed reform of legal aid.”