Corrupt MoD man must repay legal aid

A corrupt former senior Ministry of Defence official believed to have salted away at least pounds 3m in bribes must repay pounds 160,000 in legal aid, it emerged yesterday.

Gordon Foxley, 71, former director of defence procurement, has served a year of a four-year jail term for taking bribes from three foreign arms companies.

John Marshall, Tory MP for Hendon South, said yesterday that he had received a letter from the Legal Aid Board saying the aid had been revoked.

Mr Marshall has campaigned for the withdrawal of pounds 160,228 in legal aid granted to Foxley for his defence and a subsequent unsuccessful appeal.

"It was a scandal that he was ever granted legal aid in the first place. I am glad public concern has caused that certificate to be withdrawn," said Mr Marshall. Foxley was first granted emergency legal aid last December and a full certificate in February. "I think it was monstrous that he ripped off the British taxpayer once and then ripped them off again by getting legal aid."

The letter from the Legal Aid Board said it had revoked Foxley's aid and "deemed him never to have been in receipt of legal aid and therefore liable to pay his solicitor's costs".

When sentenced in May last year, Foxley was told to pay back pounds 1.5m or face another three years in prison. But a National Audit Office report later revealed that more than pounds 3.5m was credited to his bank accounts over eight years.