Numbers jailed for non-payment of fines up 89%

THERE was a big increase in the number of people sent to prison for non-payment of fines last year.

The annual report from the Irish Prison Service revealed a rise of 88.7% on the 2007 figure — from 1,335 in 2007 to 2,520 last year.

And while women only make up 11% of committals overall, in this category they feature much more than any other crime. Last year, 359 women and 2,416 men were jailed for non-payment of fines or debts. Debtor fines accounted for 255 of this.

Jailing people who fail to pay court-ordered fines has been branded ludicrous and outdated by one of the country’s leading charities.

Vice president of the St Vincent de Paul, John Monaghan, said he wasn’t surprised by the figure.

“The attitude we would have on this is putting people in jail for the non-payment of fines or for a debt is just out of place in this day and age. Our stance would be this is a ludicrous thing to do. We need to find other ways of sorting that kind of problem,” he said.

A prison service spokesman said the type of fines range from motoring offences to the non-payment of television licences.

The number of committals to prison last year for road traffic offences increased 44% on the 2007 figure — from 1,564 to 2,254 last year.

The number of prisoners committed serving 10 years or more increased 38.3%, from 47 offenders in 2007 to 65 in 2008. In 2006, the figure was 22.

Last year’s increase was mainly related to drug offences which showed an increase from 22 offenders in 2007 to 36 in 2008.

Committals under sentence of less than three months increased by 1,233 or 54% — 2,293 to 3,526.

Offences against the person such as murder, manslaughter and sexual offences accounted for almost 12% of committals in 2008 — with 939 people going to prison for such crimes.