It was Dec. 12, 2012 when the 13-month-old Poppi Worthington was allegedly abused sexually by her father before she was killed. After almost four years, unfortunately, her crime is still yet to be solved.
Recently, it has been revealed that Baby Poppi's 48-year-old father, Paul Worthington, has been given legal aid to fund the trials he has been facing, especially when it comes to fighting for the custody of his other children. Ten months after his daughter's death, his children were taken from his guardianship and were all taken in foster homes. As to the report, almost £117,000 was recently granted to him.
All these years, although a judge was convinced he has sexually assaulted her child, Worthington has denied any accusations against him. Because of how he defended his stand all these years, though he was already in custody, he was yet to be charged of any crime.
Based on the records posted in Dailymail, since October 2013, Worthington has been granted about £87,318 which has been used to fund his counsel payments and about £29,450 for solicitors' fees. The Cumbria County Council, on the other hand, has already spent around £198,500 which was used to finance outside lawyers regarding the protection of Poppi's siblings and about £12,365 using its own in-house solicitors.
Meanwhile, with the huge money the government has been spending for the Poppi Worthington case, Labor MP John Woodcock who represents Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, said, "These mounting bills are more evidence we need to get to the truth as quickly as possible," as posted by The Telegraph.
"The Government has taken action to reduce legal aid expenditure. It has been reduced by over 20% since 2010," High Court family judge Mr. Justice Peter Jackson said. "Legal aid is now only available for the highest priority cases, which includes care proceedings."
