Jump in unrepresented defendants as legal aid cuts continue to bite

Up to 7.7% of those appearing at first crown court hearing last year had no lawyer, says QCThe number of unrepresented defendants in crown courts is rising sharply, the head of the Criminal Bar Association has warned, as cuts to legal aid increasingly affect the criminal justice system.Addressing the annual Bar Council conference in London, Caroline Goodwin QC said figures showed as many as 7.7% of those at a first hearing last year had not been represented by a lawyer. In 2010 the percentage wa