Woman was given legal aid in TV licence court clash

A WOMAN has been given hundreds of pounds worth of taxpayers’ money to fight a criminal prosecution for failing to have a TV licence.

Megan Alexander was granted legal aid worth more than twice the cost of the licence in a case which even the Scottish Legal Aid Board ( S LAB) a d mitt e d was “extremely unusual”.

A spokesman for SLAB said the decision to grant legal aid for a TV licence case would only be taken in “exceptional c i r c u mstances.” Alexander, who holds a unique place in British legal history as the first person to be banned from driving as a man and also later as a woman, had been charged with having no TV licence in January.

Officers went to her home in Potterhill Gardens, Perth, af t e r database checks showed she did not own a TV licence and it is understood she was unable to produce one.

Alexander, 63, was due to go on trial at Perth’s Justice of the Peace court this week and her lawyer was paid a set fee of £295 to prepare the case.

However, on the morning of the scheduled trial, the Crown decided to drop the action and treat it as not called, so Alexander was formally cleared of any offence.

A source close to the case said: “I have never heard of anyone being granted legal aid in one of these cases before. The ironic thing is it would have been cheaper if SLAB had just bought her a TV licence.

“They have spent nearly £300 on legal fees from the public purse and a TV licence is 145.50 pounds. As far as anyone knows, Ms Alexander still doesn’t own a licence.”