TV Licensing Search Warrant Statistics for North Tyneside and Teesside Magistrates' Courts

TV Licensing has applied for fewer than fifty search warrants in the Northumbria and Cleveland local justice areas over the past 3 years, according to figures released by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

To put that value into some sort of context, the area has a population of 1.9 million people residing in 820,000 households. Assuming the BBC's oft-mooted evasion rate of 5% is correct, that means around 41,000 of those households are evading the TV licence fee.

Using the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we asked HMCTS to provide a breakdown of the number of TV Licensing search warrant applications made at North Tyneside and Teesside Magistrates' Courts since 1st January 2012. We also asked for information about the number of those applications that were granted, refused and based on detection evidence.

The following information was disclosed in response:

Teesside:

- 2012:

Applications: Between 1 - 5.

Granted: Between 1 - 5.

Refused: 0.

Detection: 0.

- 2013:

Applications: 20.

Granted: 20.

Refused: 0.

Detection: 0.

- 2014 (to Sept):

Applications: 9.

Granted: 9.

Refused: 0.

Detection: Between 1 - 5.

North Tyneside:

- 2012:

Applications: 0.

Granted: 0.

Refused: 0.

Detection: 0.

- 2013:

Applications: 0.

Granted: 0.

Refused: 0.

Detection: 0.

- 2014 (to Sept):

Applications: 0.

Granted: 0.

Refused: 0.

Detection: 0.

On the basis of those figures, it would appear that the Capita Court Presenter at Teesside Magistrates' Court, Tony Kaminskas, is far more likely to apply for a warrant than his counterpart at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court, Helen Robson.

The number of Teesside warrant applications might seem significant to some, but bear in mind that such a densely populated and generally deprived area is prime hunting ground for TV Licensing goons. Teesside also has some particularly repugnant TV Licensing goons, who will stoop to almost any level to get a result (Nasr, Lyle, Nevison et al).

Curiously, we have a copy of a warrant sworn by Robson at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court, which is not reflected in the figures above. That being the case, we're slightly sceptical about the accuracy and completeness of the North Tyneside data.

Edit (6/7/16): We have now written a more recent post, where we give the official number of TV Licensing search warrant applications in 2014-15. You can read it here.