Britain's £6.5m police fine dodgers
More than £6.5 million in on-the-spot fines handed out to petty criminals by police has not been paid.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that of the 176,000 penalties issued for offences including criminal damage, harassment and shoplifting, 91,000 were paid. Almost half were ignored.
The fines were introduced to stop minor offenders clogging up the courts system. Critics say that the level of non-payment proves that the policy is failing. It is not known how many of those offenders who refused to pay were pursued through the courts.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's ridiculous to be dishing out fines to people if half of the money isn't being collected. Worse still, pursuing them through the courts could cost taxpayers hundreds of pounds to collect a fine of just £50."
The figures revealed by the Ministry of Justice show that in 2008, the most recent available, almost 60,000 fines of £80 were handed out in England and Wales for "causing harassment, alarm or distress" but only half were paid. Of the 44,000 £80 penalties given to the drunk and disorderly, 24,000 were paid. Only 21,000 of the 46,000 fines given to shoplifters were paid.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "If a penalty notice for disorder remains unpaid a fine is registered against the defaulter. The courts will do everything in their powers to collect and enforce the sum. Money can be taken from an offender's earnings or benefits if they are unemployed."
