Number of people jailed over fines to reach record

Record numbers of people look set to be jailed this year for failing to pay fines, figures show.

There have been almost 4,500 committals in the first half of this year, compared to 7,500 for the whole of 2011, which is the highest annual figure to date.

The increasing number is despite the existence of legislation, passed in Jun 2010, which was supposed to cut the jailing of people for failing to pay fines.