A pensioner with Parkinson’s disease, 86, has been convicted in a fast-track court over an unpaid vehicle tax bill of £3.34.
The man, who lives on the outskirts of Newcastle, told the court about his health difficulties and that his wife, also 86, has Alzheimer’s disease.
He explained that the annual £20 tax bill for his silver Ford Fiesta was accidentally left unpaid in January while their daughter, who manages the couple’s finances, was moving house.
The DVLA launched a criminal prosecution over the six-week period between February and mid-March when the car was not properly taxed.
The pensioner said he had already paid an £80 financial penalty that he believed was linked to the same issue, leaving him confused about why he was being prosecuted for a criminal offence.
He was convicted at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court last Thursday and ordered to pay £3.34 in compensation to the DVLA.
The case was prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure, a controversial fast-track process in which magistrates sit behind closed doors to deal with low-level criminal cases.
The Government has spent the past 17 months considering whether to reform the system following reports of elderly and vulnerable people being harshly convicted over unpaid household bills.
The DVLA began the criminal case by sending the pensioner a letter before the agency knew about his personal circumstances.
He responded by pleading guilty in writing to using a vehicle without a valid licence.
In the mitigation section of the online form, he wrote that his daughter “has control of my financial and health and welfare as lasting POA (power of attorney)”.
He wrote: “She has to do much on keeping on top of everything for my wife and I.
“We are both nearly 87.
“I have Parkinson’s disease and my wife has Alzheimer’s.
“(She) overlooked paying my tax renewal of £20.
“She had moved address and we assumed the original letter or reminder re tax went to her old address.”
He said the vehicle was being sold “as I am no longer capable of driving my car”.
He wrote: “I am not sure why I have received the Single Justice Procedure notice.”
He ended by asking the court to call his daughter “to confirm this matter is resolved with no further action necessary”.
Magistrate Lynda Briggs accepted the pensioner’s guilty plea and spared him another fine, concluding the case with an absolute discharge and the £3.34 compensation order.
An absolute discharge means a person is convicted but receives no further punishment.
Because of the design of the Single Justice Procedure, prosecutors such as the DVLA do not routinely see mitigation letters and may miss information that could raise questions about whether a prosecution is in the public interest.
Magistrates can adjourn a case for an open court hearing attended by a prosecuting lawyer or return it to the DVLA for another public interest review in light of new information.
The Labour Government consulted last spring on greater safeguards for the system, including mandatory prosecution checks after defendants submit mitigation.
The DVLA supported the proposed reform, but the Government has made no public announcement about possible changes since the consultation closed last May.
The magistrate convicted and sentenced 60 other defendants in DVLA cases on the same day, imposing fines, costs, court fees and compensation totalling almost £25,000.
Court data showed that 1,950 people across England and Wales were prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure last week for keeping or using vehicles while their vehicle tax was unpaid.
