Cant Pay Fines

[nailit]

over the last few months Ive amassed over 400 pound in fines and court costs for relativly minor offences. I am currently in receipt of £99 p/w ESA.
Come April I will have to find 30% of my council tax + approx. £14 p/w bedroom tax. This will have a drastic effect on my finances. Today I have spoken to a court finance officer and have been told that if I dont continue paying my £5 a week fines that I will be jailed as £5 P/W is the minimum that is acceptable to the courts. I am more than willing to pay my fines but come April £5 a week is more than i can pay. What can I do?
(P.S. For those of you who have supported me / given advice over the last 9 months RE: Crown court trial, I now have a new date for the 27th Feb...the foresaid offences are incidental to my crown court case as i am guilty...and have pleaded guilty... to said offences in magistrates court.
To those who have followed my threads regarding this ongoing case, I thank you, but I am going to find myself without the money to eat let alone pay fines. Im now half hoping that Im found guilty at my trial so that at least I will be able to eat and keep warm in prison...

[DJHawkes]

castigating is abit of a strong word, if he can;t get a job what other practical advice do you suggest? What charities should he try? I'm sure there are a few.

[murraymints]

Cab and social services can advise on other sources available locally that can give immediate practical help..

[DaisyNonna]

Do the crime, pay the fine or do the time. Unless there are mitigating circumstances. The reason I asked why. I am not a mind reader nor have I come across this post before tonight.

[boxtops]

if you click on nailit's profile, daisy, you can see everything leading up to this.

[nailit]

Thank you for replies. Just to clarify, my 'crimes' have been victimless and have occured when my mental health has deterioated. This has mostly been reflected in the courts giving me conditional discharges but it has still left me with the court costs to pay. Costs that Im more than willing to pay but come April I simply wont be able to pay them at £5 a week. It doesnt sound a lot but to me £5 is 3-4 meals. And because I wont be able to pay at that rate I will be sent to prison (effectivly because Im struggling financially).
DJHawkes, there is nothing that Id like more than to find a job but at the moment its not practical. Its people like you that see all unemployed as dole dossers. You remind me off Pauline
Ive worked and kept my family for most of my life and when ive been unemployed ive done voluntary work. Now im facing prison for been hard up.
For those that have been supportive towards me for the past 9 months, I thank you. Its been a great help and your kindness has helped me through some dark times.

[New Judge]

You need to keep in touch with the fines office and tell them of your situation. Come April when your finances take a turn for the worse you must tell them. You should ask them to arrange a fines hearing for you but emphasise that you are not wilfully refusing to pay but simply do not have the means to do so.

A fines hearing will involve the Magistrates investigating your situation in some detail (be prepared by having evidence of all your incomings and outgoings). They have a number of options: they can keep things as they are (and if you subsequently default they may send you to prison); they may order you to pay a reduced weekly amount (although as you have been told, £5 pw is the usual minimum amount you would be expected to pay); or they may "remit" (that is, write off) some or all of the outstanding sums.

The important thing is to keep in touch with the court and if necessary go to the court yourself and ask to have a fines hearing. The fines offices are not always very accommodating and may insist that the court's original order must stand. But Magistrates do have the power to vary those orders when circumstances change. As I said earlier, always make it clear that you are not refusing to pay but do not have the means to do so. Also, make sure you keep up the payments until your finances change.

Something else which may help is that if you are eventually sent to prison for non-payment the maximum sentence for an amount between £200 and £500 is fourteen days.

[Smowball]

You cant give them what you havent got.

[albaqwerty]

Nailit, glad to see you're posting again.

It's a bit of a waiting game until April to follow New Judge's advice, but patience is what's needed.

Get in touch with Social Services about a food bank too. (I know it's not pleasant, but they can't get blood out of a stone) xx

[nailit]

thanks guys.

[murraymints]

Good luck nailit..and take care..xx

[bednobs]

NJ, if you go to prison for non payment of a fine, is the fine then written off, or is it still there when you come out?

[New Judge]

Yes it is. The prison sentence is imposed in place of the fines (or costs). The same is not true of custody imposed for non-payment of Council Tax or compensation. In those cases the debt remains upon release.

[DJHawkes]

'it's people like you that see all unemployed as dole dossers'

wrong, it's people like me that has to interview dole dossers and try to seperate the wheat from the chaff, if someone really wants to work it is easy to spot them, they fill in the application form correctly, they take time to think about whether the job would suit their abilities and they turn up for the interview. Those that accept an invitation to an interview and then don't bother turning up are not only dole dossers, they don't even realise that they have cost the company money in the time and effort spent preparing for the interview and bringing extra cover in to allow for the interviewers time out of the business whilst the interviews take place, they only accept the interview so that they can fill in their little card to get their money. My beef is with that sort of person and the system that is unable to stop it happening over and over again, not with someone like yourself that apparently is unable to return to work at the moment, but when you are ready to return to work, I hope you take on board my comments, they are positive not negative.

[tamborine]

I dont know your history nailit & forgive me if I put my foot in it. Jail is not the answer to your probs. Can you get gardening work, lots of shrubs & bushes need trimming or digging over gardens? You seem too articulate to be out of work, I wish you luck.

[nailit]

DJHawkes, in that case please forgive me if I've misinterpreted your comments but when you are unemployed (in my case through illness) you get lumped in with the benefit scroungers. Ive had to jump through hoops with the benefit agencies just to survive. I live in one of the highest unemployment areas of the uk, shops, factories and the local industries are all closing. The local coroner has recently ordered an investigation into why so many people in my city are commiting suicide. It doesnt take a ton of grey matter to see why. If I could get employment I'm sure that my mental health would be better. Also bear in mind that the people you interview for a job probably arnt suited to that particular job but are made by the job centres to attend or face sanctions on their benefits, they arnt necessarily scroungers. In the past Ive been sent for interviews for jobs that I knew I didnt stand a chance of getting because I didnt have the experience or qualifications.
Tambourine, I'd shovel shi* if I could but at the moment no ones going to employ me while Ive got a crown court case hanging over my head. Hopefully I'll get the correct verdict of 'not guilty' at my trial and then I can get on with my life.
Thank you all for your good luck messages, it means at lot to me at the moment.

[boxtops]

well said, nailit - see what the fines office say, let us know how you get on.

[nailit]

TY boxy