Criminals owe courts £623m in unpaid fines
COURTS are owed more than £600million in unpaid fines, figures reveal.
The amount of money outstanding has rocketed from £395million in 2010 to £623million last year, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The staggering sum still owed by criminals is the result of five years of continuous growth in uncollected fines and comes amid fears courts are fining more criminals because judges have lost confidence in community sentences.
Campaigners and the Magistrates’ Association have called on the Government to investigate the rising total owed amid fears it could hit court credibility if fines remain unpaid.
Harry Fletcher, of the Victims’ Rights Campaign, told the Daily Express: “Courts have lost confidence in community sentences, which has led to more fines. Unfortunately, some people fined have a record of dishonesty and will do anything to avoid paying.
“The solution is for the Government to invest more in debt recovery and to reform community sentences so courts can be confident in them again.”
John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “It’s really bad news for taxpayers that over half a billion in fines has gone uncollected. This ultimately will mean higher taxes and cost pressures for other budgets.
“The authorities should be doing absolutely everything they can to recover these fines.”
Ministry of Justice sources said that much of the rise can be attributed to a cap of up to £5,000 on fines being removed four years ago.
In 2015, 866,137 people were given fines totalling around £213,611,000, according to the Magistrates’ Association analysis of Court Service records.
A year later magistrates imposed 902,320 fines adding up to £263,763,000. In 2017, 915,541 fines were issued, totalling £362,490,000. But last year, judges gave out 893,429 to rake in £355,773,000.
Jon Collins, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said: “While it may be due at least in part to more fines being given, the causes of the increase in outstanding court fines in the last two years should be investigated.
“If it is because fines are not being paid on time then that is concerning, as unpaid fines compromise the credibility of the court while allowing the offender to effectively go unpunished.
“It should be noted that many people who come before the courts are on low incomes and may struggle to pay fines.
“We would therefore like the Government to consider giving courts greater flexibility to be able to give an alternative sentence in cases where the offender has been fined on multiple occasions and would otherwise get another fine.”
Ministers are promoting community sentences as a viable alternative to short-term prison sentences despite concerns from experts that they are routinely ignored.
Last year, former Olympic show jumper Lizzie Purbrick was given 120 hours community service after she admitted using pig’s blood to scrawl lewd messages on the bedroom walls of her “cheating” Tory peer lover Lord Prior of Brampton.
Purbrick, 63, had originally been ordered to do unpaid work, but a court heard she had “willfully” failed to complete a single hour and moved to South Africa.
Purbrick was sentenced to 28 days in prison, suspended for 12 months, for breaching the original order.
The order was revoked as being “unworkable” because of Purbrick’s new residence.
Prosecutor Damian Moore told King’s Lynn Magistrates Court in Norfolk: “To date, a total of 256 hours’ unpaid work have been offered – none have been completed.”
The Ministry of Justice is considering scrapping jail terms of under six months in a bid to reduce overcrowding within prisons.
A department spokeswoman said: “We take the payment and enforcement of criminal fines seriously and collected more than £400million for the taxpayer last year – an increase of £59million.”