Recent fines enforcement action has seen a Midlothian man jailed, and a man from Motherwell arrested at a London airport.
The fine defaulter from Loanhead, Midlothian, was jailed for 24 days after failing to maintain payment on road traffic fines totalling £700. The three separate fines were all issued at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Meanwhile a fine defaulter from Motherwell was arrested at a London airport as he tried to board a flight to Sweden.
He had failed to pay a road traffic fine when a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was stopped by Police as he tried to board a plane in London and was held until a family relative paid his fine in full on his behalf. Only then was he allowed to continue on his journey.
All defaulters are given warnings and the chance to engage with fines enforcement officers before action is taken.
The Scottish Court Service (SCS) has a range of enforcement measures in place to collect outstanding fines which, as well as arresting defaulters on warrant, includes clamping cars and deducting payment directly from wages, savings or benefits.
"If you have an outstanding fine we urge you to catch up with your payments now,” says Chief Operations Officer Cliff Binning. “If you don’t, you could be the next person to see a warrant issued for your arrest.
“We pursue all unpaid fines, from traffic offences to court penalties. If you are in genuine financial difficulty you can contact a member of the fines enforcement team to discuss your payment terms.”
Fines collection rates in Scotland continue to remain strong and a recent report shows that 86% of the value of sheriff court fines imposed between April, 2010 and March, 2013, has either been paid or is on track to be paid through instalments.
In that time more than 109,000 benefit deduction orders were granted, while nearly 21,000 earnings arrestment orders were issued.
In the first nine months of the financial year there was a significant rise in online fine payments which saw over £3.7 million pounds collected electronically, an increase of 33% compared to the same period last year.
“There is no excuse for offenders not to pay their fines or contact our enforcement team for advice,” says Mr Binning. “Payment can be made online, by phone, by post or in person at any sheriff court or justice of the peace court.”
Most fines can be paid on our secure website at pay a fine by completing five easy steps using a debit or credit card. Only fines which involve the endorsement of a driving licence with penalty points cannot be paid electronically including some police traffic tickets and penalties issued by the Safety Camera Partnerships for speeding or running a red light. In these instances offenders can post their licence to: Scottish Court Service, Central Processing Unit, PO Box 23, Glasgow, G59 9DA or take it in person to any Scottish court.
Notes:
Fine defaulters are not named for data protection reasons.
A copy of the most recent SCS Quarterly Fines Report is available at: http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/reports-data .
Many fines are paid by instalments over the course of two or more years which will affect collection rate figures.