Outrage as man jailed for not paying dog licence

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell yesterday promised to end sending people to prison for non-payment of fines as it emerged it cost €2,000 to keep an unemployed man behind bars after he failed to pay for his €12 dog licence.

The jailing of 40-year-old David Gartlan has been branded ‘outrageous’ by his family, opposition politicians and prison reformers.

Mr Gartlan spent 10 days in jail for failing to pay a €250 fine imposed after he was taken before a court over the dog disc. He did not turn up in court, a warrant for his arrest was issued and executed.

It is understood he was escorted to Mountjoy by three gardaí and after spending four days in the country’s toughest jail, he was transferred to Shelton Abbey, the open prison in Co Wicklow. The daily cost of housing him was €200. He was released on Monday evening.

Mr Gartlan, from Dundalk, Co Louth, refused to talk about his time behind bars. His sister said her brother was a single man who was of limited education and had been unemployed for a number of years.

Margaret McKeown voiced her family’s outrage, particularly as her brother offered to pay the fine in instalments.

“They picked on somebody who is so vulnerable. He told me everyone in Mountjoy was laughing at him for what he was in for. He could have been with murderers and rapists and all he did was not buy a dog licence. He is very quiet and wouldn’t hurt a fly.” The family have called for a public apology.

While the Department of Justice says that at any one time only 1.5% of the prison population are fine defaulters, over 1,000 spend at least one night in jail each year.

A spokesman for Minister McDowell said yesterday: “Work is currently ongoing on an Enforcement of Fines Bill which will end, where practicable, imprisonment for inability to pay fines and provide for new ways for enforcing fines.”

This could include attachment orders where a certain percentage of salary or social security allowances is deducted to pay the fine. Senior gardaí would welcome broadly plans to transfer the enforcement of fines to other agencies, such as the revenue commissioners in the case of tax discs.

Fine Gael councillor Michael O’Dowd, who knows the family, said Mr Gartlan was not the sort of person who would deliberately disregard the court. “He just did not understand the system and he did offer to pay the fine in instalments. It’s is disgraceful that something was not worked out before he was hauled off to prison.”

Irish Penal Reform Trust outgoing chair Valerie Bresnihan said Ireland still jailed people in cases where no other country would. “I would demand a public apology be made because it’s such an obvious miscarriage of justice,” Ms Bresnihan said.

Prison insiders said any person in prison for non payment of fines would be treated with care by staff.