MUDDLE OVER LEGAL AID GRANT TO TERRORIST
Muddle over legal Aid grant to terrorist
By ALAN MURRAY
POLICING Board member Ian Paisley, Jnr, has called on the Legal Aid Board, and the Social Security Agency, to end the muddle over a review of a legal aid grant to a convicted IRA terrorist.
Inquiries to both bodies by Sunday Life, last week, failed to establish if either had contacted the Republic's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), which has demanded one million euros from Real IRA terrorist, Liam Campbell.
Campbell was granted special status legal aid, last December, by the Legal Aid Board in Belfast, after he was named in a civil writ from the Omagh Victims Group.
Campbell, Colm Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly are named in the writ, which seeks damages from them, on behalf of the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing.
The 39-year-old farmer, from Dundalk, received a five-year prison sentence, in October 2001, for being a member of an illegal organisation, in the Republic.
Since then, he has been slapped with a demand by the CAB for one million euros, which, it believes, he has secreted in investment bonds, and offshore bank accounts.
The Secretary of State asked the Legal Aid Board to review the granting of legal aid to Campbell, in the light of the CAB's demand to seize Campbell's assets.
But a month later, the matter remains unresolved, and neither the Legal Aid Board or the Social Security Agency will indicate when the review will finish.
A spokesman for the board said it couldn't comment on any specific case, but said "all grants of legal aid" were regularly reviewed.
Asked if the board had contacted the CAB to obtain copies of documentation, relating to Campbell's alleged secreted assets, the spokesman said all such enquiries were conducted by the Social Security Agency
When Sunday Life contacted the Social Security Agency, a spokesman confirmed that it was the responsibility of their legal aid branch to examine all applications for legal aid, made in Northern Ireland.
But he refused to say if the branch had been in touch with CAB, since the Secretary of State requested a review of the Campbell decision.
Ian Paisley, Jnr described the scenario as a "shambles".
He said: "We don't even know if the Social Security Agency has been in touch with CAB, which believes Campbell has one million euros hidden away.
"They're saying their inquiries are completed, but the Legal Aid Board is saying they're waiting for information.
"It's about time the two senior civil servants or paid officials responsible for these two functions lifted the phone to one another and sorted this out."
By ALAN MURRAY
POLICING Board member Ian Paisley, Jnr, has called on the Legal Aid Board, and the Social Security Agency, to end the muddle over a review of a legal aid grant to a convicted IRA terrorist.
Inquiries to both bodies by Sunday Life, last week, failed to establish if either had contacted the Republic's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), which has demanded one million euros from Real IRA terrorist, Liam Campbell.
Campbell was granted special status legal aid, last December, by the Legal Aid Board in Belfast, after he was named in a civil writ from the Omagh Victims Group.
Campbell, Colm Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly are named in the writ, which seeks damages from them, on behalf of the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing.
The 39-year-old farmer, from Dundalk, received a five-year prison sentence, in October 2001, for being a member of an illegal organisation, in the Republic.
Since then, he has been slapped with a demand by the CAB for one million euros, which, it believes, he has secreted in investment bonds, and offshore bank accounts.
The Secretary of State asked the Legal Aid Board to review the granting of legal aid to Campbell, in the light of the CAB's demand to seize Campbell's assets.
But a month later, the matter remains unresolved, and neither the Legal Aid Board or the Social Security Agency will indicate when the review will finish.
A spokesman for the board said it couldn't comment on any specific case, but said "all grants of legal aid" were regularly reviewed.
Asked if the board had contacted the CAB to obtain copies of documentation, relating to Campbell's alleged secreted assets, the spokesman said all such enquiries were conducted by the Social Security Agency
When Sunday Life contacted the Social Security Agency, a spokesman confirmed that it was the responsibility of their legal aid branch to examine all applications for legal aid, made in Northern Ireland.
But he refused to say if the branch had been in touch with CAB, since the Secretary of State requested a review of the Campbell decision.
Ian Paisley, Jnr described the scenario as a "shambles".
He said: "We don't even know if the Social Security Agency has been in touch with CAB, which believes Campbell has one million euros hidden away.
"They're saying their inquiries are completed, but the Legal Aid Board is saying they're waiting for information.
"It's about time the two senior civil servants or paid officials responsible for these two functions lifted the phone to one another and sorted this out."
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/161
Published Date: 07-Sep-03
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