Magistrates to gain access to offender 'mugshots'

The government has tabled an amendment to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill that will give magistrates' courts access to police 'mugshots' to help them identify criminals who attempt to avoid paying fines.

Current laws allow a mugshot to be supplied to the courts for prosecution purposes, but not for enforcement, and in more than 13,000 cases each year fines are not enforced, or their collection is delayed, because the offender denies their identity.

Estimates are that the proposed new measures could result in up to £1.8 million extra being collected each year.

Courts Minister Christopher Leslie said: "It is ridiculous that court officials, trying to ensure compliance with sentences, have not had this basic tool to help them catch the criminal defaulter. It is clearly right to change the law and close this loophole.

"Court imposed fines are not a soft option and this proposed legislative reform reinforces that. They are a credible penalty.

"The beauty of this proposed new measure is that we can tap into an existing resource without reinventing the wheel. It builds on the raft of measures introduced over the past 18 months and sustains the dramatic improvements that have subsequently been made to fines enforcement. "

Maria Wallis, Association of Chief Police Officers spokesperson on criminal justice and Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall, said: "This reform shows joined up justice at its best - police and courts enforcement staff working closely together to increase victim satisfaction with the justice system, ensuring court orders are obeyed and sending a message to offenders that crime doesn't pay.

"The measure could also help in executing other warrants such as distress and community penalty breach warrants. Sometimes these are not enforced because the person's identity is in dispute."

(GB)