Fine slashed in High Court
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A senior Judge last week criticised courts for sticking to rigid formulas in assessing fines without considering all the circumstances on the individual case.
Lord Justice Parker made his comments in the High Court in London when lorry driver Maurice Birchall had a £7,600 fine for overloading his vehicle cut to £1,300. Father of two Birchall, 45, had claimed he might have had to sell his house to pay.
The court heard that Birchall, of Woodlands Avenue, Butt Lane, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, was fined in December 1988 by Freshwell and Hinckford Magistrates, Essex, for 10 offences of overloading.
The fine was upheld by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court last February. Birchall was caught in a crackdown on overweight lorries by Essex County Council's Consumer and Public Protection Department. He was then working on the construction of the A120 near Braintree.
Edward Hess, counsel for Birchall, told the High Court: "The amount of the fine should reflect the gravity of the offence. Serious though driving up to 25% overweight is, it is not such a grave offence that a man should be put out of his business and probably out of his home in order to pay it."
Lord Justice Parker, sitting with Justice Tudor Evans, said: "I have no doubt whatever that in this case the sentence was truly astonishing. We are dealing with a man with a good character who committed stupid offences over a short period and who has a limited capacity to pay."
It was right, he said, that any fine should cause some hardship, but it should not be so large that the defendant could not pay or that it would take him 25 years to pay.
It was justifiable for courts to use formulas in assessing fines, but they should also consider all the circumstances and the principles of sentencing.
Birchall was awarded costs from Central Funds.