It is, in part, due to the millions of pounds that have been wasted on convicted criminals – US Ripper Peter Sutcliffe is an obvious example – being allowed to use public money to pursue frivolous cases that have tried, and failed, to deflect attention away from the evil nature of their crimes.

Legal aid was never intended to allow such heinous individuals to use public money to test various aspects of human rights legislation. It was designed to enable disadvantaged people – those who have, perhaps, been a victim of negligence – to seek justice.

If Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke can enable such cases to take precedence as part of his wider review into the cost of civil litigation, then he will have done a great service to all those law-abiding people bemused that the likes of Sutcliffe can continue to make a mockery of the legal system. They, frankly, lost that right when they were convicted of such awful crimes.