Tom Hayes wants his money - the State has got it.

I show below a letter sent earlier today to the Supreme Court judge who declared a fortnight or so ago that Tom was never guilty in the first place:

Lord Leggatt,

The Supreme Court,

Dear Lord Leggatt,

I am one of Tom Hayes’s supporters and first contacted him in 2015 when he was sentenced to an entirely ridiculous stretch of 14 years, subsequently reduced on appeal.

We of course now know that he was never guilty in the first place and, after an appalling delay, he was declared innocent.

In the early stages of his imprisonment (or perhaps earlier) SOCA helped themselves to all his free wealth and, as it happens, that of his wife (when it was never suggested that she was a beneficiary of Tom’s alleged criminal behaviour). However, quite astonishingly, SOCA, who have been asked to pay up immediately, declare that they have to consult “stakeholders”. This is merely yet another basis upon which they can drag their feet. And it is contemptible conduct. Surely, the state can get on with it and pay – Tom has a baby to look after and looking after babies costs money.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Cawkwell