Lawyers for bomb plot gang cost us £5million

LAWYERS defending a terror gang cost the taxpayer £5 million in legal aid, it was revealed today.

Ringleader Dhiren Barot intended to murder thousands by detonating bombs on the Heathrow Express, under the Thames and in US buildings including the New York Stock Exchange.

He admitted conspiracy to murder and was jailed at Woolwich crown court with seven members of his gang in November 2006.

But he and his gang's case cost millions after Barot waited almost two years before he finally entered a guilty plea knowing he faced an 80-year sentence if he denied his role and was found guilty.

The Court of Appeal later decided to reduce his minimum tariff from 40 to 30 years. That process alone is likely to have added tens of thousands of pounds to the cost to the taxpayer.

Among those who profited from the case was Barot's solicitor, Mudassar Arani, who has already earned thousands of pounds more in legal aid from other terror cases including that of the jailed extremist cleric Abu Hamza.

Other lawyers who would have received legal aid payments were Ian Macdonald QC and barrister Ali Bajwa, who represented Barot when he appealed against his sentence.

A spokesman for the Legal Services Commission said today: "Dhiren Barot was one a group of eight who faced Crown Court charges related to a terror plot.

"The cost of defence for the trial and an appeal against sentence stands at £5,007,645. While the Commission recognises the sensitivity of funding such cases, our justice system and the principle of a fair trial requires that people accused of committing a crime are not prejudged and should have legal representation to defend themselves, regardless of whether the decision is unpopular."

He added that the decision to grant legal aid in criminal cases is made by the court after applying an "interests of justice test". It considers a number of factors including whether an individual is likely to lose their liberty and the complexity of the case.

Barot, from Kingsbury, planned a "black day" of terror in a series of co-ordinated bombings with the help of a gang of seven men each recruited for their expertise in various aspects of the plot.

He wrote: "Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion was to rip through London and actually rupture the river itself." Barot was described as the most high-profile terror leader ever captured in Britain, with direct links to Osama bin Laden.