What Should Be done to Prolific Offenders Who Don't Pay Their Court Fines

[AlterEgo]

Mr Brohiri still hasn't paid any of his court fine, in news which will surprise absolutely nobody.

Prolific Herts train fare dodger could be sent to prison over unpaid fine

A prolific fare dodger from Hertfordshire has been warned he could be sent to prison and has more than 100 convictions for not paying for train…

www.whtimes.co.uk

Charles Brohiri, 29, has more than 100 convictions for not paying for train tickets, and did not pay fares valued at more than £3,000 for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) train journeys between February 2024 and November last year.

Brohiri, originally from Hatfield in Hertfordshire, but who has been homeless for years, was given a three-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, in February, but was back at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for an assessment of his means to pay the £3,629.60 he was ordered to then, among other fines.


District Judge Nina Tempia told Brohiri, who was unrepresented: “If you haven’t paid anything then you can go to prison as I warned you last time. Do you understand that?”

Brohiri confirmed he did, and admitted he had not yet paid any of the fines or compensation he owed “as of yet”.

 

[MadMac]

Mr Brohiri still hasn't paid any of his court fine, in news which will surprise absolutely nobody.

Prolific Herts train fare dodger could be sent to prison over unpaid fine

A prolific fare dodger from Hertfordshire has been warned he could be sent to prison and has more than 100 convictions for not paying for train…

www.whtimes.co.uk

I suspect that Mr. Brohiri may well welcome the prospect of the proverbial three square meals a day…..

 

[Killingworth]

I suspect that Mr. Brohiri may well welcome the prospect of the proverbial three square meals a day…..

And at best will never pay more than a token fraction of the fines outstanding. And he's unlikely to change his habit of avoiding payment for travel by train.

Give him a job in revenue protection with salary to pay some of it off (Attachment of Earnings Order) and a free rail travel pass

 

[spotify95]

If this person is indeed homeless (as the article suggests), what incentive is there for him to pay his fine? If he goes into prison then he'll arguably be in a better position than he is in now, as he'll be fed and have a roof over his head!

 

[Egg Centric]

If this person is indeed homeless (as the article suggests), what incentive is there for him to pay his fine? If he goes into prison then he'll arguably be in a better position than he is in now, as he'll be fed and have a roof over his head!

To answer the question in the thread header, there's not really much that can be done about people like this, at least not by the justice system. He's not killed someone, there's no good reason to lock him up for years. Prison in this case is neither a useful specific or general deterrent. He's presumably mentally ill. It is what it is.

 

[Tetchytyke]

You can only be committed to prison if you wilfully refuse to pay.

If you don't have any money then you may not be wilfully refusing to pay. If someone genuinely has no money and can't pay then the Magistrates may consider remitting some or all of the fine, although they can only remit the compensation element if the victim agrees.

Someone who is already in prison on an active sentence can ask for their fines to be added to their prison sentence, usually a few extra days in prison will result in all outstanding fines being remitted, but the amount of the remission and the length of additional time in prison are both discretionary AFAIK.

So in this case, with a suspended prison sentence hanging over him, it may actually suit him to be sent to prison as he'd come out with a clean slate.

 

[contrex]

You can only be committed to prison if you wilfully refuse to pay.

If you don't have any money then you may not be wilfully refusing to pay. If someone genuinely has no money and can't pay then the Magistrates may consider remitting some or all of the fine, although they can only remit the compensation element if the victim agrees.

Someone who is already in prison on an active sentence can ask for their fines to be added to their prison sentence, usually a few extra days in prison will result in all outstanding fines being remitted, but the amount of the remission and the length of additional time in prison are both discretionary AFAIK.

So in this case, with a suspended prison sentence hanging over him, it may actually suit him to be sent to prison as he'd come out with a clean slate.

I knew a fellow who had an unpaid fine for a motoring offence, and had had heard that he could choose to do a few days instead. He rang up the court office and was told that he could present himself there the following Monday morning and do a week in Horfield (Bristol) prison. The very nice lady said he would be sensible to 'bring a few books'. He did that and was put in a cell with a couple of non-serious offenders with the same idea. On the Thursday morning he was told he was being turfed out to make way for an expected surge of newly sentenced prisoners. They gave him a giro cheque for £80 "discharge money" which was more than the fine he couldn't pay.

 

[LCC106]

I agree with the idea that prison may be more attractive to him. How can someone expect a homeless person to stump up over £3,000 realistically when he is most certainly unemployed? Especially when in other areas of the law fines can be based on a proportion of earnings. The consolidated costs of over £34,000 are quite astounding but I’m sure not surprising when considering all the various inputs of bringing this to court.

 

[Tetchytyke]

How can someone expect a homeless person to stump up over £3,000 realistically when he is most certainly unemployed?

It's not just that he's unemployed, he obviously has no (legitimate) income at all. If he was receiving benefits then they can- and do- just take deductions directly from those.

 

[LCC106]

Thanks for the explanation. Hadn’t thought of that.

 

[Richardr]

As per the story he is supposed to be moving onto benefits and then paying £5 per week from the end of this month. His means will then be assessed at the end of August.

I doubt he will be able to pay any more, and there is little that can be realistically done except by the probation service or similar body to try and get him back into society. Given his lack of income, he wouldn't have been able to afford to travel anyway, so the railway isn't really losing money on him.

I think he is in a different class than persistent offenders who can afford.

 

[saismee]

The trouble with situations like this is that there shouldn't be a punishment. I mean what else realistically can he do? There needs to be a means to rehabilitate these people, clean them up, and get them jobs. Of course, that's much easier (and cheaper) said than done... instead all of the funding will go to prisons.

 

[Trackman]

Mr Brohiri still hasn't paid any of his court fine, in news which will surprise absolutely nobody.

Is this the same person who was caught without a valid train ticket on the way to his first court appearance?

 

[Sonic1234]

I agree with the idea that prison may be more attractive to him. How can someone expect a homeless person to stump up over £3,000 realistically when he is most certainly unemployed?

As anyone who has worked in education will know, what do you do when the sanctions available are ineffective or have no consequence to the individual.

Ultimately, people behave due to pride in doing the right thing and a fear of sanctions.