udge orders Legal Aid Board to pay man's £33,500 bill

Published on Thursday 25 June 2009 23:04

A JUDGE has hit out at the Scottish Legal Aid Board and ordered it to pay a man's £33,500 bill for defending himself in court against his former partner.

Lord Brodie heard that the board had continued to fund the woman's cases despite repeated warnings it had been duped and that the granting of legal aid was "an abuse of process".

William Bohannon, 62, managed ultimately to have the actions dismissed – but the costs involved left him facing bankruptcy.

Lord Brodie gave SLAB the chance to explain its actions, but no-one turned up to address him in the Court of Session.

He said: "The board has not chosen to defend its conduct in this matter. Whether that is because of a wish to safeguard public funds or to avoid embarrassment I do not know. It has the result that the board has not offered any explanation of why it acted as it did."

Mr Bohannon, a sales manager, and Carol Ballard met in 2000. They lived together in a house in Feu Road, Glassford, near Strathaven, Lanarkshire, which had been bought in his name, but split up in 2004. She then married Stephen Young and the house was sold to him.

Mr Bohannon, of Bolton, Lancashire, said that during their time together, he had loaned Mrs Young his life savings of 51,000 for her business, a hair and beauty salon in Strathaven.

He insisted she had signed a personal bond for 50,000, and he tried to make her repay the money, but she refused. Next, he had Mrs Young sequestrated, although he was likely to receive only around 18,000 of what he was owed.

In response, Mrs Young raised actions in the Court of Session seeking to have the sequestration recalled and to have the personal bond declared null and void. She denied Mr Bohannon had loaned her any money and that the document was "a fabrication" and had not been signed by her.

She alleged that Mr Bohannon had asked her father to witness a document relating to the sale of the house in Feu Road, and that her father had signed his name and "may also have signed her name… in reliance upon false assurances given by Mr Bohannon".

The lawyers repeatedly wrote to SLAB about the award of legal aid to Mrs Young, suggesting it had been obtained through deception and was "a total abuse of process." SLAB stated in an unsigned letter: "I can confirm that all objections to this application have been considered and legal aid remains in place."

When the cases called in court, Lord Brodie ruled that Mrs Young should put up 20,000 security before being allowed to proceed. Mr Bohannon had said the cost implications for him, if full hearings were to take place, would be "horrendous". The security was not forthcoming, and the judge then dismissed the cases.

Mr Bohannon asked Lord Brodie to find SLAB liable for his legal expenses in defending the actions.