An 86-year-old pensioner with Parkinson's disease has been convicted in a controversial fast-track court over an unpaid car tax bill of £3.34.
The octogenarian, who lives on the outskirts of Newcastle, told a court about his own health difficulties and that his wife, also 86, suffers from Alzheimer's. He explained that the annual £20 tax bill on his silver Ford Fiesta accidentally went unpaid in January when their daughter, who manages the couple’s finances, was moving house.
DVLA prosecution
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) launched a criminal prosecution over the six-week period between February and mid-March when the car had not been properly taxed. The pensioner added in his note to the court that he has already paid an £80 financial penalty, which he believed was linked to the same issue, leaving him confused as to why he was now being prosecuted for a criminal offence.
He was convicted at Lincoln Magistrates' Court last Thursday and issued with a court order to pay £3.34 in compensation to the DVLA.
Single Justice Procedure
The case was prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure (SJP), a controversial fast-track court process where magistrates sit behind closed doors to deal with low-level criminal cases. The Government has spent the last 17 months considering whether to reform the SJP system, after a slew of reports of elderly and vulnerable people being harshly convicted of crimes over unpaid household bills.
The DVLA started the criminal case by sending a letter, at a point where his personal circumstances were unknown to the agency. He responded by entering a guilty plea in writing and set out his health difficulties in the mitigation section, writing that his daughter “has control of my financial and health and welfare as lasting POA (power of attorney)”.
“She has to do much on keeping on top of everything for my wife and I. We are both nearly 87. I have Parkinson’s disease and my wife has Alzheimer’s. (She) overlooked paying my tax renewal of £20. She had moved address and we assumed the original letter or reminder re tax went to her old address.”
His letter sets out that the vehicle is now being sold “as I am no longer capable of driving my car”. And he wrote: “I am not sure why I have received the Single Justice Procedure notice”, ending with a plea to call his daughter.
Magistrate's decision
Magistrate Lynda Briggs decided to accept the pensioner’s guilty plea and spared him another fine, concluding the case with an absolute discharge as well as the £3.34 compensation order. Due to the design of the SJP, prosecutors such as the DVLA do not routinely see mitigation letters, and are at risk of missing important information.
The Labour Government consulted last spring on the possibility of greater safeguards in the SJP system, including the idea of a mandatory prosecution check after defendants have entered their mitigation. The DVLA supported the idea, but no public announcements have been made since the consultation closed last May.
The magistrate in Lincoln convicted and sentenced 60 other defendants in DVLA cases on the same day, imposing fines, costs, court fees, and compensation totalling almost £25,000. According to court data, 1,950 people across England and Wales were prosecuted last week in the SJP for keeping or using a vehicle while their vehicle tax was unpaid.
