What Price Justice?

When Harry Redknapp walked free from court last week not only did it set a chain of events in motion that saw the England Manager lose his job, it led to reports in the press that the trial itself had cost £8m.

Football Business tweeted on Friday: So an £8m 5-year investigation to find that someone who was accused of fiddling tax on less than 200 grand was innocent #moneywellspent and we were far from the only ones to share those views.

In fact so fierce was the outcry that the HMRC released a statement last week denying that the court case had cost anywhere near that much and instead insisting that the actual cost was somewhere in the region of £1.3m, indeed it further suggested that the £1.3m figure also included the trial of former Pompey Chief Exec Peter Storrie, who it emerged had been acquitted of similar charges last year.

A spokesman was unequivocal: “There's been a lot of nonsense talked about the cost of this investigation to HMRC.” They told press, with their figures coming in at around £300,000 apparently. The other million comes from barristers fees, which in Dec 2011 stood at just over £944,000.

So the question begs itself: What price justice? And does it actually matter how much it costs to see justice done?

You can see why people got vexed by this. The investigation into Redknapp has gone on for five years and was all to do with the sort of sums that Carlos Tevez takes home per week.

But, is that the point? Surely you don’t want to get into a situation where you are looking for value for money in justice and cases don’t go to court because you can’t afford to see it through?

However, on the other side of that you do have to wonder if, in these times of fiscal hardship and cutbacks and budget deficits whether it should have taken five years to investigate something and bring it to trial – especially when you consider the fact that Storrie had already been cleared (that detail wasn’t reported – and rightly so, for fear of prejudicing the court case).

Personally I am inclined to think that, when all things are considered, the cost of things isn’t important when it comes to the law. You can’t get in a situation where people think to themselves “I can get away with this because they can’t afford to investigate.” And the actual cost of the crime – as we have pointed out already, in this case it was considerably less that what some Premier League players earn in a week – shouldn’t really be a consideration.

Of course, in this particular Messrs Mandaric, Redknapp and Storrie have been vindicated in their belief of their innocence and are free to carry on their lives. That being the case, it easy to point fingers and suggest that money has been wasted. But I wonder if that had been said if the Spurs boss and the Sheffield Wednesday owner were in prison this week?

If the HMRC are to be believed, rather than the more lurid reports, then the £1.3 million is a tiny, miniscule drop in the ocean compared the bank bailouts, or MP’s expenses. Or indeed just over a sixth of what the outgoing England Manager was paid – and probably just about what he received as a pay-off.