A grieving widow has received a criminal conviction over an unpaid £35 tax bill on her husband’s car, which wasn’t paid in the weeks after his death.
The 51-year-old woman was taken to court by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) over the slip-up – which happened last July while she was in mourning and making funeral arrangements – despite her writing to explain.
The letter told the agency she didn’t drive, had never owned a car, had “very limited understanding of vehicle tax” and was going through an “extremely distressing and overwhelming period”.
The widow explained how English is not her first language and she had become “confused” about the tax requirements of her husband’s Jaguar.
“The vehicle was not used on any public road and was kept parked at my home address at all times,” she added.
But a magistrate opted to convict her and pass sentence rather than refer the case back to the DVLA to check if the prosecution remained in the public interest.
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The widow, from near Chesterfield in Derbyshire, entered a guilty plea in writing and was sentenced by magistrate Dawn Towart to a six-month conditional discharge with an order to pay £85 in costs and the £35.84 car tax bill.
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The case was brought through the controversial fast-track Single Justice Procedure (SJP) court system.
SJPs were introduced in 2015 for minor offences in magistrates’ courts, aiming to allow firms to fast-track prosecutions and pursue them behind closed doors. They have a history of convicting vulnerable people over unpaid household bills.
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The DVLA has been supportive of SJP reform that would allow prosecutors to automatically see letters sent to the courts in mitigation.
The government has conducted a consultation on possible changes to the system, but has not taken any action in the year that has passed since it sought views on reform.
At her annual press conference on Tuesday, England and Wales’ top judge, Baroness Sue Carr, revealed that a “nuts and bolts” review of the SJP system had been undertaken.
She did not reveal the results of the audit and said decisions on the way the system itself operates are for politicians to answer, but stated: “The judges are applying the law as it applies.”
