Criminals let off paying fines worth £789m

HUNDREDS of millions of pounds in fines imposed by courts on criminals are being written off, figures show.

The authorities have cancelled charges of more than £2.5million a week – or £360,000 every day – after deciding there was no chance of collecting them.

Between the Tories coming to power in 2010 on a promise to get tough on criminals and the end of March 2016, £789million in financial impositions by the courts was written off. Some of the unpaid money will be compensation that offenders were ordered to pay to their victims.

Financial impositions also include prosecution costs, fixed penalty notices and victim surcharges. Figures released by the Ministry of Justice under freedom of information laws show that £119million of fines were cancelled in the year to the end of March 2016. It meant that for every £100 ordered to be paid, £25 was never recouped.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service said it collected a record £381million in that year – up from £299million in 2012.