I cannot conceive of anything more evocative than ITV docudrama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies as a plaudit for the embattled community of criminal solicitors currently under the cosh from justice secretary Chris Grayling. The disturbing depiction of Jefferies’ interrogation, in a Bristol police station, with nothing between him and a pair of police officers apparently bent on his conviction (save his ‘London brief’) must surely stir public concern about access to justice and the preservation of our basic human rights.
Given the public funding issues, doubtless it will also not have been lost on the average viewer that the ‘London brief’ was privately sourced and paid. What would the outcome have been if the accused had been more vulnerable than the highly educated Jefferies and unable to access private funding?
David Kirwan, Higher-court advocate, Kirwans, Merseyside
