Wellington, Nov 26 NZPA - Taxpayers have so far footed a $12,342.50 legal aid bill for double murderer Graeme Burton's unsuccessful defence of a charge of attempting to murder a fellow prison inmate.

The amount includes legal fees and other relevant services. Burton has not yet been sentenced, so the final cost is not known, National MP Chris Finlayson today told Parliament on behalf of Justice Minister Simon Power. "Everybody is entitled to a fair trial regardless of conduct, and the legal aid system provides for a fair trial regardless of what sort of person the court might be dealing with.

"If one has legal aid, it quite often prevents defendants from representing themselves."

Mr Finlayson said there were appalling cases where defendants had sought to cross examine their victims, giving good reason to have legal aid for criminals.

Burton, 38, is serving a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 26 years for the murder of Lower Hutt man Karl Kuchenbecker in 2007, while he was in parole.

He previously served 14 years for the stabbing murder of Paul Anderson in Wellington in 1992.

Earlier this month, Burton was found guilty of attempting to murder Dwayne Marsh at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo, last December.

He had entered Mash's cell with a sharpened steel rod and chased him up and down a prison corridor outside the cells three times before prison guards removed Marsh from the area.

He struck Marsh more than 20 times during the attack. Three of the blows were to the chest area and one penetrated his heart. Marsh required emergency hospital surgery to save his life.

Burton also received a $10,000 artificial leg with titanium parts through ACC.

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