Crime Pays

‘THE message to drivers is that the Government wants you to put your foot on the gas and speed.

Mrs Johnson does her civic duty

A woman in a town 100 or so miles away has been brutally mugged and the Government wants you to chip in to see her right.

So if you could please put your foot on the accelerator when you pass one of the many speed cameras, then that would be most helpful.

The plan is that the £60 speeding fine coming your way will be hiked by an extra fiver, which will be slipped into the victim’s bloodied and bruised paw.

Doing 33mph in a 30mph zone is no longer just a matter of devil-may-care carelessness and criminality – it is a matter of social necessity.

As the Independent says, the Government is finding it hard to raise funds for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the bill was £171m last year), so it needs your help.

The new charge is outlined in a Home Office consultation paper, Compensation And Support For Victims Of Crime.

David Blunkett’s office writes: ”We believe that making a small payment towards victims could form an important part of the reparation of an offender.”

How fining speeding motorists does this is questionable. But the plan is to hit all villains, not just mums on the school run and other plagues on human existence.

Anyone convicted and sent to jail will be ordered to pay £30 into the fund.

The burglar will not pay the money straight back to his victim – although they could leave goods to that effect as they flee the scene – but deposit the money into the fund.

There will also be a £5 levy on the fixed penalty £40 fine for being drunk in a public place, the same surcharge as that on the £80 fine for giving a hoax call to the fire brigade.

And there’s an extra £10 to pay for failure to give your driver’s details to police when pulled over for DWB (Driving While Black) and other offences.

So get out there and start breaking the law. Your community, victims and the Government need you and, more importantly, your money.

Go on, hand it over – or else!’

Posted: 13th, January 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink