Legal Aid
Do you get legal aid when you sue for legal aid?
A man convicted for his part in the abduction of his grandson wants legal aid to fund an appeal, despite having $1 million in assets held in a family trust.
The family fortunes of Dick Headley, 70, were revealed in the High Court in Hamilton this week. He was appealing a Legal Services Agency refusal to grant him legal aid.
In December Headley and his daughter, Kay Skelton, 38, were sentenced in the same court.
Skelton was ordered to complete nine months’ home detention and 300 hours’ community work, while Headley was ordered to serve 12 months’ home detention.
The nasty little kidnappers got off lightly.
Headley claims the Legal Services Agency treated him unfairly when it refused to grant him legal aid during those legal proceedings. A legal review panel later found in favour of the agency, a decision Headley’s lawyer claims was an “error of law”.
Headley was appealing that decision in an effort to get legal aid to appeal his sentence.
So do you get legal aid when suing for legal aid?