Convicted Killer Granted £100k In Legal Aid

A road-rage killer has been given legal aid which has amounted to £105,454.94 in failed appeals, judicial reviews and other legal costs over the past 18 years. Kenneth Noye was convicted to a life sentence for murdering Stephen Cameron, 21, in 1996. The incident occurred on the slip road of the M25 in Swanley, Kent, where Noye stabbed the victim to death. 

 

Noye who is now 72, has served 19 years of his life sentence and was released from Standford Hill earlier this month, after the Parole Board concluded last month that he was suitable to return to the community.

 

The father of the victim says it is "outrageous" that the convicted murderer was granted more than £105,000 in legal aid to review and appeal his sentence. He said: "Him using £105,000 of our money is bloody outrageous. The man's got money, everyone knows he has. It's unbelievable and disgusting that we're paying for his legal battles. It's so wrong.

 

"If he wants to fight his legal battles, he should fund it himself. He shouldn't have a right to legal aid." Noye's most recent legal battle involved a judicial review between 2016 and 2018 which amounted to £48,507 of public legal aid.

 

This was not his first judicial review as he was also granted an additional £7,282 for a judicial review between 2003 and 2005. The convicted murderer was also allowed an eye-watering amount of £40,119 to appeal his conviction and sentence – which he did several times, unsuccessfully, from 2003 to 2011. Other costs also include £8,183 for legal representation in jail and hundreds of pounds in solicitor costs at police stations, prison and in magistrates' courts.

 

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) says: "Anyone facing a Crown Court trial is eligible for legal aid, subject to a strict means test. Depending on their means, applicants for criminal legal aid can be required to pay contributions up to the entire cost of the defence."