Dear Editor,

I was made to understand that the Legal Aid Clinic (LAC) renders service to members of the general public who have been charged for criminal offences, or with people with civil matters who cannot afford an attorney-at-law. I also understand that Legal Aid does charge you a reasonable fee and does defend you in court. After hearing about this I informed a friend of mine whose son has been in prison for over 14 months because she cannot afford to post bail for him; he has been charged with carnal knowledge.  I accompanied her to the LAC to see what help she could get for him, but when she got to speak to a member of the staff she was informed that Legal Aid did not take on cases like carnal knowledge.

If Legal Aid is offering a service to the general public it should be a full service. I am not a supporter of criminal acts and I will not support a criminal, but a person is not guilty until proven guilty. I think the Legal Aid Clinic should render full service to the general public because there are a lot of people who might have other cases like the one mentioned but who cannot afford an attorney.

Yours faithfully,
Colin Andrews