AROUND HALF of all financial penalties imposed in Dundee Sheriff Court in the last year have not been paid, The Courier can reveal.

Figures obtained under freedom of information legislation show that fine-dodgers have defaulted on more than £350,000 between January and December, 2007.

There were 2200 financial penalties imposed in Dundee Sheriff Court during 2007, of which 854, or 56% of all open accounts, fell into arrears. The total value imposed was £761,521 however just £404,165 of that was recovered.

Convener of the Justice Committee and Tory spokesman for justice Bill Aitken said that while the figures were better than expected, more needed to be done to actively pursue defaulters.

“The financial penalties imposed upon people living in cities like Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh— where there is a fairly high level of crime being committed by hardened offenders—is much worse than in other parts of the country,” he said.

“However, I do not find the figures for Dundee at all surprising because non-payment of fines is something that is happening across Scotland and though there are sanctions that can be taken to recover the money owed, they are limited in scale and scope.

“Until such time as the Scottish Government is prepared to recognise this reality and arrange for fines to be deducted directly from benefit and wage payments on an individual basis, we will get nowhere.”

Fines are imposed on a range of offences, including motor vehicle offences, breach of the peace and drunkenness, and account for around 60% of all court disposals.

The money generated through court fines imposed at Dundee Sheriff Court goes to the Scottish Consolidated Fund (Treasury). Fines imposed following a conviction for a common law offence in Dundee District Court are retained by Dundee City Council to offset the running costs of administering the court.

Solicitor George Donnelly, a senior member of the Dundee Bar Association and Immediate Past Dean of the Faculty of Solicitors, said many Dundonians struggled to pay their court fines because they were already living in a state of poverty.

“As practitioners, we only deal with defaulters once their case hits the means court. However, in saying that, I think the figures for Dundee are indicative of a general malaise throughout Scotland and why several new enforcement measures were recently introduced,” he said.

“In more well-off sheriffdoms the payment of fines is high, whereas in areas of urban deprivation they are much lower.

“As Dundee is fairly impoverished—and the people who are fined are usually the ones subsisting on benefits—it would appear that, regrettably, the payment of a fine is low down on their list of priorities.”

On March 10, new provisions for the collection and enforcement of fines, as outlined in the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007, were introduced. This included the creation of the fines enforcement officers who will ultimately be responsible for enforcing fines. It is hoped these measures will save court time, police time spent issuing warrants and lead to a reduction in the number of people imprisoned for defaulting on fines.

A Scottish Government spokesman said, “New powers to dock wages and seize the cars of offenders who will not pay court fines came into force in March.

“We want summary justice to be quicker, smarter and more focused on the needs of victims and witnesses—so offenders are dealt with effectively.

“That includes getting smarter about collecting court fines, taking up less court time and freeing up our police to be where they and the public want them: on our streets.

“That’s why new fines enforcement officers, employed by the courts, have a big role to play. They will be able to dock wages, freeze bank accounts or seize vehicles of offenders who deliberately fail to pay fines. They can also ask a court to deduct money owed from their benefits or, ultimately, send the case back to court if none of the new options work.

“At the same time, they’ll be able to help and advise those who want to pay but have genuine problems doing so. So, those who won’t pay are being targeted with new powers and those who can’t pay are offered advice to help ensure they pay their debts to society.”