Regina v Sean Fitton

Under the Litigator’s Graduated Fee Scheme, classification as a guilty plea requires the assisted person to have entered a guilty plea. Where no plea is entered, that classification is unavailable.

A case may qualify as a cracked trial where a plea and case management hearing has taken place, the case does not proceed to trial for other reasons, and the prosecution ultimately offers no evidence or the indictment is stayed. The unusual procedural history does not prevent that classification where the technical requirements are met.

Lawrence & Co appealed under regulation 29 of the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 against the Legal Aid Agency’s assessment of its claim under the Litigator’s Graduated Fee Scheme.

The firm had represented a defendant charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. The proceedings involved several Crown court listings, but the defendant was never arraigned and entered no plea. The indictment was ultimately stayed and the case closed, with an apparent intention to restart proceedings in the magistrates’ court. The defendant later died before the case restarted.

The central issue was whether the claim should be remunerated as a cracked trial or as a guilty plea.

The appeal was allowed. The Appellants’ LGFS claim was directed to be paid as a cracked trial rather than a guilty plea.

1. Guilty plea. The court held that the fact of a guilty plea was, at the very least, a prerequisite to classification as a guilty plea under the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013. Since the defendant had never entered any plea, the case could not properly be classified in that way.
2. Cracked trial. A plea and case management hearing had taken place on 23 June 2021, although it was described locally as a Plea and Trial Preparation hearing. The case did not proceed to trial for other reasons. The prosecution ultimately offered no evidence, the indictment was stayed and the case was closed. Those circumstances satisfied the technical requirements of a cracked trial.
3. Scheme context. The LGFS operates as a swings-and-roundabouts remuneration scheme, so an assessment may produce overpayment or underpayment in an individual case. That general feature did not justify treating this case as a guilty plea, particularly given the complex technical prosecution, multiple Crown court appearances and substantial written argument.
4. Costs. The Appellants were awarded £500 plus VAT, together with the £100 appeal fee.

• Legal Aid Agency Determining Officer: assessed the claim as a guilty plea.
• High Court (Senior Court Costs Office): allowed the appeal under regulation 29 of the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 and directed payment as a cracked trial.