Asked by: Lord Young of Acton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to the Crown Prosecution Service to date of (1) bringing the initial prosecution against Hamit Coskun, (2) defending that prosecution at Southwark Crown Court, and (3) the appeal of his acquittal in the High Court.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is rightly operationally independent from Government. All decisions for prosecutions and appeals are therefore taken independently, without political interference.
In the magistrates’ court, the cost of proceedings came to £4,111.44
In the Crown Court, the cost of the Appeal came to £912.00
These are the costs of external counsel.
For High Court proceedings, as of 26 February 2026, a total of £13,983.60 has been spent on external counsel advocacy.
CPS have been ordered to pay the Respondent’s costs (Mr Coskun) for the CPS appeal hearing – total of £27,982.86.