Jailing fine defaulters is a waste of money

IMPOSING a fine on someone reflects the fact that the courts regards their offence as one that does not justify a custodial sentence, so it seems daft that almost 9,000 people were sent to prison, however briefly, because they did not pay fines last year.

This figure marks a 10% increase on the number of people jailed in those circumstances in the previous year.

As if to add another layer of the bizarre to the figures, the number of committals has jumped by over a third since the Fines Act 2010 was made law.