MoD and PSNI Pay £10,000 in Wasted Costs, Donated to Charity by Legal Team

Following today’s High Court proceedings in Belfast, the Ministry of Defence and the Police Service of Northern Ireland have agreed to pay £10,000 in wasted costs arising from repeated delays in two legacy civil actions.

Those delays were caused by the failure of the PSNI and the MoD to make disclosure of relevant material in time for trial, despite clear court timetables and repeated warnings. As a result, High Court time, and the time of solicitors and counsel, was unnecessarily lost.

The wasted costs are paid to the lawyers for their time wasted in preparing for trial. In a joint decision taken by Phoenix Law, counsel Des Fahy KC and Conleth Rooney, the entirety of the agreed costs will be donated to a charity of our clients choosing

Newry Hospice, on behalf of the Reavey family

Macmillan Cancer Support, on behalf of the Farmer family

Gavin Booth said;

“These cases concern some of the most serious allegations arising from the conflict, including claims relating to the activities of the Glenanne gang and alleged state involvement. They have already been subject to unacceptable delay. That delay continues.

As was made clear to the court, applications for wasted costs should never have been necessary. Proper preparation and timely disclosure by state bodies would have avoided this outcome entirely.”

Phoenix Law reiterates the call for the PSNI and the MoD to now comply fully with their legal obligations so that these long-standing cases can finally be heard on their merits, without further obstruction or delay