A woman has been convicted of not paying her TV Licence while she is being detained for mental health treatment, in the latest outrage to emerge from the Single Justice Procedure.
The 32-year-old woman said she was “not feeling well” when she was spoken to on the doorstep by a TV Licensing inspector in May, and revealed she has post-traumatic stress disorder and had been struggling to keep up with bill payments.
A decision was taken to prosecute her, for watching TV without a valid licence, and the woman then wrote in to the court to say she is now in hospital.
“I am currently detained under the mental health act on a section 3,” she explained in a letter seen by The Standard.
“I have been in hospital since June of this year and have been struggling with my mental health for a long period (of) time.
“I did not intentionally not pay my TV licence, but due to my mental state during the time of the offence I forgot to pay and I am sincerely sorry.”
The note, setting out her circumstances, was sent on September 20 along with a written guilty plea.
Due to the fast-track nature of the Single Justice Procedure court process – which sees magistrates sitting behind-closed-doors and handing out convictions based on written evidence alone – no prosecutor saw the letter.
The woman, who lives in a town near Bolton, was then convicted by a magistrate who agreed to give her an absolute discharge to avoid further penalties.
TV Licensing said it was unaware of the woman’s circumstances prior to The Standard flagging the case, and is now reviewing the prosecution.
“Our primary aim is to help people stay licensed and avoid prosecution, which is always a last resort”, a spokesperson said.
“We followed established process in this case and asked for further information, however, details the customer provided to the court were not made available to TV Licensing.
“We will now contact the customer to review her case.”
The Magistrates Association and former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas have called for Single Justice Procedure reform, including the introduction of a new rule that prosecutors must look at mitigation letters before cases go before a court.
Suggested reforms also including increased training for magistrates sitting in the Single Justice Procedure and greater transparency in the system.
The Ministry of Justice says magistrates have the power to refer cases they believe are not in the public interest back to prosecutors for a review.
But The Standard has revealed a slew of shocking prosecutions where no such review has taken place, leading to convictions for people dying of cancer, incapacitated pensioners, and families in mourning.
Magistrates have convicted those people for not paying their TV Licensing or breaching DVLA rules on car tax and insurance, even though the case against them may not be in the public interest thanks to powerful letters of mitigation.
The woman in the latest case was set up on a payment plan after the initial TV Licensing inspector visit on May 8, and she was prosecuted when she did not keep up with the payments – at a time when she says she was in hospital.
It is understood she was treated as vulnerable after the initial inspector visit and was sent a letter, which went unanswered, in which she was asked to provide further details of her mental health condition.
TV Licensing, like all Single Justice Procedure prosecutors, have the power to apply for convictions to be overturned if new information becomes available.
In response to The Standard’s award-winning investigation into flaws in the Single Justice Procedure, the Labour government has said the system is “under review”.
But it has refused to go into detail about possible reforms under consideration.
