04. Aug. 2010. – 12:58:24
Sitting in an area which has a high proportion of residents born outside the U.K. we are used to dealing with all sorts, but foreign visitors to this country rarely appear in the dock because we`re hardly a tourist mecca and our residents tend to return to their countries of origin to visit family, but last week was the exception.
A Russian man was visiting his family here. Unfortunately he brought with him the Russian habit of drinking Vodka to excess and trying to drive on, for him, the wrong side of the road at the same time. Along with others I have done my fair share of criticising police practices but certainly they don`t turn a blind eye to drink driving when a Russian hints at a few Roubles if they go away. He was before us having pleaded guilty to drink driving at over three times the legal limit. In addition to a long driving disqualification a U.K. resident would have been subject to at least a community sentence and probably a requirement to do unpaid work. For a foreign visitor that was not possible. We were left with the single option of a fine in addition to driving disqualification in this country. The next step was that we had to convert in our minds an assumed community sentence into Pounds Sterling. My initial thoughts, based on the average relevant weekly income of £350 we are instructed to apply, were that a fine of around £1,000 + costs etc would be appropriate. My colleagues and I eventually settled on a number in total just under four figures. Our legal adviser however told us that since the defendant had stated from the dock that in Russia his income was equivalent to about one third of the £350RWI we were bound to take that into consideration. Having expressed my opinion that this logic could lead to ridiculously low fines for those from the world`s poorest states who chose to conjure numbers out of thin air to escape their just rewards for law breaking in the U.K. we had to proceed as advised. The only daylight in this nonsense is that in such cases immediate custody is applied on a strict £/day formula until the fine is paid. We fined him £500 + costs etc. He had a friend in the public gallery who seemed to give him the thumbs up when he was told he would be in the cells until 4.00pm and then to prison overnight if the total sum were not paid that day and he would stay there according to the formula if necessary.
When about one in eight prisoners is a foreigner and our borders are still as porous as volcanic rock the Home Office still has much work to do and on reducing budgets that seems an uphill task. But if it were as simple to collect long overdue unpaid fines from U.K. residents by threatening immediate custody without the convolutions that have to be performed currently perhaps the £1.3 billion owed might be quickly reduced. That would mean of course more prison places and more [short] sentences. Ever seen a dog chasing its tale……….????
A Russian man was visiting his family here. Unfortunately he brought with him the Russian habit of drinking Vodka to excess and trying to drive on, for him, the wrong side of the road at the same time. Along with others I have done my fair share of criticising police practices but certainly they don`t turn a blind eye to drink driving when a Russian hints at a few Roubles if they go away. He was before us having pleaded guilty to drink driving at over three times the legal limit. In addition to a long driving disqualification a U.K. resident would have been subject to at least a community sentence and probably a requirement to do unpaid work. For a foreign visitor that was not possible. We were left with the single option of a fine in addition to driving disqualification in this country. The next step was that we had to convert in our minds an assumed community sentence into Pounds Sterling. My initial thoughts, based on the average relevant weekly income of £350 we are instructed to apply, were that a fine of around £1,000 + costs etc would be appropriate. My colleagues and I eventually settled on a number in total just under four figures. Our legal adviser however told us that since the defendant had stated from the dock that in Russia his income was equivalent to about one third of the £350RWI we were bound to take that into consideration. Having expressed my opinion that this logic could lead to ridiculously low fines for those from the world`s poorest states who chose to conjure numbers out of thin air to escape their just rewards for law breaking in the U.K. we had to proceed as advised. The only daylight in this nonsense is that in such cases immediate custody is applied on a strict £/day formula until the fine is paid. We fined him £500 + costs etc. He had a friend in the public gallery who seemed to give him the thumbs up when he was told he would be in the cells until 4.00pm and then to prison overnight if the total sum were not paid that day and he would stay there according to the formula if necessary.
When about one in eight prisoners is a foreigner and our borders are still as porous as volcanic rock the Home Office still has much work to do and on reducing budgets that seems an uphill task. But if it were as simple to collect long overdue unpaid fines from U.K. residents by threatening immediate custody without the convolutions that have to be performed currently perhaps the £1.3 billion owed might be quickly reduced. That would mean of course more prison places and more [short] sentences. Ever seen a dog chasing its tale……….????
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