Free legal aid bill of €70k for hit-and-run defence

Legal costs, paid for by the State, associated with the 14-day trial of a 23-year-old man who denied killing a father of four who had been training for the annual Ring of Kerry charity cycle in July 2012 have amounted to just under €70,000.

The figures were released under Freedom of Information requests to the Department of Justice, which is responsible for legal aid, and to the Director of Public Prosecutions, which pays for the prosecution lawyers.

Prosecution witness costs are paid for by the gardaí. However, the Garda costs of witnesses, including an Australian Federal Agent who was brought to Tralee to testify at the Circuit Criminal Court, are not being released by the gardaí – the finance division of An Garda Síochána do not usually release this information, the garda press office said.