Downing Street Says » Crime Fines

» Friday, January 14, 2005

Crime Fines

Asked if the Government thought that people who earned more might feel "put out that they paid more in fines than some ‘scrope’ who earned less but did more crime", the PMOS said it was an interesting smear on people! The idea of varying fines according to income was a fact at the moment anyway, so the principle was not new. What it was doing was providing a clearer statutory explanation. The principle of fines was that they acted as a deterrent to future wrongdoing. It made sense, and judges already had this ability, to vary the fine according to income level. If someone who earned £10,000 was fined £200, that obviously was more of a deterrent than it would be for someone who earned £50,000.

Asked if it was another way of keeping people out of jail, the PMOS said: no. The Government was building more prison numbers, with an estimate of 86,000 by 2006. The proper thing was that there was a punishment system that was effective, therefore a judgement as to whether a fine, community service or prison was the best way of dealing with someone. If, for example, someone was a repeat offender, but the problem was driven by drugs, then a drug rehabilitation order might be the best way. The punishment must fit the crime.

Asked if there was a danger that a message would be sent out that said if you earned less, then you would be punished less as a result, the PMOS replied that what was important was to think about the effect of that crime according to their income.

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