UK NEWS

CRIMINALS OWE COURTS £500M

JOKE: Text message alerts are being sent to defendants to stop them failing to pay

Monday July 28,2008

By Tom Whitehead Home Affairs Correspondent

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(12)

MORE than £500million in fines imposed on criminals remain unpaid – leaving thousands of offenders unpunished.

It makes a mockery of the Government’s plan to impose more non-custodial punishments instead of jail terms.

And it means new tactics to tackle the problem of non-payment, such as the threat of clamping the cars of fine dodgers or sending them text messages, have failed.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that by March this year £500,630,569 was outstanding in unpaid court fines.

It is a rolling total but was up £14,227,050 on the same time last year, while in the year before the bill stood at £474million.

The debt comes despite efforts by the National Enforcement Service to increase payment rates.

Text message alerts such as “U R du @ mags court tmrw @ 10” and “Ur £200 fine outstanding. Pls pay soonest” are being sent to defendants to stop them failing to pay.

Fines enforcers also have the power to have dodgers’ vehicles clamped – but the huge backlog continues to grow.

Critics said law-abiding taxpayers were being let down by the failure of the justice system to enforce punishments handed to crooks.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “With crime causing untold misery to millions, it is shocking that so many criminals are getting away without even paying their fines.

“The Government constantly tell us they are being tough on crime, but this shows that the system is a joke. Text messages are no substitute for the power of the law. This failure is seriously letting down the public.”

The Ministry of Justice said clamping down on fine dodgers is a continued priority, and the amount unpaid was down more than 10 per cent in many areas.

CRIMINALS OWE COURTS £500M

28.07.08, 8:07pm

Attachment of earnings orders, distraint upon assets [including the cars they all seem to drive!], bank accounts: the Courts have a whole panolpy of measures they could use, [including locking them up] but of course the 'rights' of criminals are paramount! If they were also billed at the point of charging, with the full costs of Police manpower, police vehicle use, ambulances wherever appropriate, hospital attendance fees...... There could be a very big and justifiable bill for them to pay without a fine ever being levied! Why should those who transgress the law NOT be charged the full cost involved? And be forced to pay!

• Posted by: CycinalStephen • Report Comment

RIMINALS OWE COURTS £500M

28.07.08, 5:56pm

the cost of recovering the fines is probably too great this government has wasted all its money on warsand paying American companiesfor useless computer systems

• Posted by: vhak • Report Comment

THE BAD GUYS WIN AGAIN....

28.07.08, 5:00pm

Once again an example of how the bad guys win. The old lady who cant pay her Council Tax is hounded and despite chronic overcrowding there is always a place for her in prison.

• Posted by: Michael • Report Comment

TOUGH ON CRIME!

28.07.08, 3:57pm

So I suppose some minister will blame it on some civil servant somewhere? Of course they can collect the money elsewhere much more easily, pensioners by stopping pension for example!

The minister responsible should have their pay and allowances stopped until this farce has been sorted out! I don’t think sending a text message to a criminal actually counts as trying!

Let us see the ministers take responsibility for their ministries, and Gordon should voluntarily stop part of his pay and allowances based on 100% for all ministries!

They took the job for the power and the glory; let’s see if they can get the glory from us the electorate!

• Posted by: JohnFromLincolnshire • Report Comment

IS THIS ALL

28.07.08, 3:42pm

Is this all the money owed to the Country or is the "fiddling" by MP's expenses not included?

• Posted by: nowyouknow • Report Comment

OBVIOUSLY BECOME A CRIMINAL.....

28.07.08, 11:45am

......to get away with everything and of course have an address abroad at the same time. Then I won't be subject to paying speeding fines as police find it too difficult (poor dears!!) to chase forign drivers to pay up.

If I became a criminal, which I'm not at present, I could get continually fined and not be enforced to pay, get 'community service (but not bother to do it) and 'have me rights!'

Police can't be bothered with all the hassle of chasing REAL criminals but find it so easy to harr**** Pensioners not paying council tax; drivers for eating an apple/drinking water/breathing- behind the wheel (but yet smokers are OK to light up/drop the ciggy alight in the car/stub it out-can't understand that one.)

Oh yes, I nearly forgot-if I video a yob vandalising my home/car it is me who gets 'banged up' while the yob rides off laughing into the sunset. This is something about yobs having 'human rights' but not us law abiding people!

Oh yes-I am really getting fed up with being an English, hard working, middle-cl****, law-abiding citizen. Life would be easier and cheaper if I became a law-breaking yob! I would then have 'MY HUMAN RIGHTS' and get every benefit going!

• Posted by: nigeria1 • Report Comment