BBC’s court powers ‘as bad as those of the Post Office’

RESPONSIBILITY for taking TV licence defaulters to court should be removed from the BBC’s hands, a former director of public prosecutions has urged.

Lord Macdonald, who was DPP for England and Wales between 2003 and 2008, called for these cases to be brought by an ‘independent prosecutor’, amid fears of a potential conflict of interest.

About 130 people a day are prosecuted for not paying for a TV licence, many of whom are among the poorest in society. Figures show women account for 70 per cent of those fined for this offence.

TV Licensing, the licence fee collection and enforcement arm of the Corporation, is allowed to investigate and prosecute fee evaders.

But Lord Macdonald told TALKTV: ‘The interest of the BBC in this matter, of course, is ensuring that people pay their licence fee and that’s a corporate interest...

‘I think all criminal prosecutions should be brought by the independent prosecutor – the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS]. We saw what happened in the Post Office.’

His comments come after ITV’s hit drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office drew fresh attention to the shocking treatment of over 700 postmasters who were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud.

The Post Office pursued them independently of the CPS in what has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

Figures unearthed through a TALKTV investigation involving tens of thousands of cases show nearly 130 people are prosecuted every day for failing to pay their licence.

Among the 44,000 convicted and fined £1,000 in the year to June 2022 were elderly people in their 80s and 90s and those with dementia and cancer – making it the most common crime in the country, excluding motoring offences.

The broadcaster obtained legal papers revealing how seriously ill people were still prosecuted despite writing statements to the courts.

One read: ‘I am the main carer for my wife and children who all have mental health issues. I am being treated for cancer myself so I have a lot to deal with at the moment.’