False Economy

The more observant among you will have noticed that I recently posted about part-heard cases. As if to exact revenge the gods allocated me today to a case that - yes - went part-heard.
Enough of that, but what made me cross was another money-driven idiocy.
Recently the police have ceased to provide typed records of post-arrest interviews (aka ROTIs) and content themselves with giving a copy of the tape to the defence (or to the poor sap who can't afford a lawyer). Today we were presented with a a tape that runs for more than an hour, and that the defence required to be played in full. So that was it, we adjourned and booked another day. Without the ROTI problem we would probably have finished the trial. Instead, to save the police a possible fifty quid in transcription costs,we set a new day in court that is likely to cost many times that amount.
As my late Auntie Shirley used to say:- "But is it cheaper in the long run?"
no, Shirley, it isn't.