ONE of the men convicted of sending parcel bombs to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other prominent fans of the club ran up more than £10,000 in legal aid before the trial started.
Neil McKenzie, 42, was found guilty along with Trevor Muirhead, 44, last month of conspiring to assault Mr Lennon, former Labour MSP Trish Godman and the late Paul McBride, QC, as well as members of republican organisation Cairde Na hEireann.
Both men are due to be sentenced this week after originally being charged with attempted murder.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board has now revealed that the bill for McKenzie, who changed his instructing solicitor during proceedings, ran to £10,529 before the case went to trial, with the figure expected to rise.
At a preliminary hearing last October, Donald Findlay, QC, representing McKenzie, said his client wanted solicitor Matthew Berlow to act on his behalf rather than Brian McCluskey.
Accounts have not yet been submitted by McKenzie's defence team, headed by Mr Findlay, nor by the team led by Gordon Jackson, QC, who represented Muirhead at the five-week trial.
Emma Boon, campaign director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It is incredibly frustrating for taxpayers to see cases like this, where it seems legal bills spiralled out of control."
Eben Wilson, director of TaxpayerScotland, said: "This case is going to cost the public a great deal of money. One hopes the legal teams will be sensitive to the fact the legal aid bills are likely to be very large."
Human rights lawyer John Scott, QC, said: "The final conviction was substantially different than the original charges. This is in no small part due to the important work done by lawyers paid through legal aid."
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