04:22
Arsal
Two Pakistani cricketers convicted of a betting scam while playing England were granted legal aid of more than a quarter of a million pounds.
Salman Butt, 27, the former captain, and bowler Mohammad Asif, 29, were allocated the taxpayers' money despite details of Butt's wealth emerging during the trial.
They were arrested after the fourth Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010 accused of arranging no-balls to be bowled at specific times in return for cash.
In total the legal aid for the two players' defence amounted to £277,000.
Sitting at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Justice Cooke sentenced Butt to 30 months and Asif to 12 months. Cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months.
Butt was been released from prison in June after he was freed under the early removal scheme, which allows foreign nationals to be released up to nine months before their normal release date as long as they are deported.
During the trial, Butt admitted earning £1.2million in seven years, saying he pocketed more than £200,000 in 2009 alone.
He revealed lucrative contracts with sponsors including Pepsi and the Indian Premier League and boasted of plans to buy an £8,000 watch.
Sentencing the men at Southwark crown court Mr Justice Cooke told them last year: “Your motive was greed, despite the high legitimate rewards available in earnings and prize money.”
The Legal Services Commission confirmed the payout in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Mirror. The final figure will be higher as a further payment is still outstanding, it said.
It did not identify the players by name but said one got £86,820 in solicitors' fees and £63,991 in barristers' costs. A second got £88,279 for solicitors and £38,475 for barristers.
Both men were suspended from international cricket when they applied for legal aid and therefore qualified because the LSC takes into account current earnings.
The Lib-Dem justice spokesman Tom Brake said: "The public will struggle to understand why, at a time when the government is cutting back on legal aid in civil cases, why these individuals' defence costs are funded by the taxpayer. If they can afford to pay they should cough up for their costs."
Jonathan Isaby, Political Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Legal aid is supposed to be there to ensure that everyone has equal access to justice, so taxpayers will be amazed that these sportsmen qualified for the cash."
Under the crown court means test introduced in 2010 the LSC has the power to reclaim cash by seizing assets belonging to the men.
Those convicted with capital assets of £30,000 or more can be made to pay additional contributions, up to the total cost of their defence.
Asif was represented in court by Alexander Milne QC while Butt hired the services of Ali Bajwa QC.
Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, 20, got just over £8,000 pounds in legal aid after pleading guilty to match fixing before the trial.
Amir, and UK-based agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, had admitted offences over the Lord's Test match.
Majeed claimed to have paid Asif £65,000, Butt £10,000 and Amir £2,500.
The men were arrested after the fourth Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010 following a sting by the News of the World.
Butt was alleged by the prosecution to have been involved in arranging no-balls to be bowled at specific times.
A spokesman for the LSC said: “The LSC has a legal obligation to fund cases in the Crown Court. We apply a means test to all applicants for criminal legal aid, to ensure that convicted defendants with sufficient means have paid towards their defence costs.
“Criminal trials can cost a lot of money because they may last many weeks, can be very complex and often have thousands of pages of evidence. The LSC manages costs carefully, and legal aid payment rates are considerably less than those paid to lawyers in privately-funded cases.”
Butt and Asif were both found guilty of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
Amir pleaded guilty to the same charges before the trial began.
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