The Criminal Courts Charge: An Outrage to Justice

Anyone convicted of a criminal offence within England and Wales faces the eye-watering prospect of paying up to £1,200 towards court running costs, under new rules that came into force earlier this week.

According to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling the Criminal Courts Charge is designed to make criminals "pay their way", but the charge could prove particularly punitive for those accused of trivial summary offences like TV licence evasion.

The new rules, which came into force on 13th April 2015, mean that anyone convicted of a summary offence - those heard only at the Magistrates' Court - will face a charge of £150 if they plead guilty from the outset, or £720 if they are convicted after initially pleading not guilty. 

The charges are even steeper for those convicted of either-way or indictable offences at the Magistrates' or Crown Court.

The mandatory charge is not means-tested, so an unemployed first-time offender faces exactly the same charge as a wealthy repeat offender. Courts will still be able to impose fines, costs and the victim surcharge in addition to the new charge.

As mentioned earlier, the new charge is particularly bad news for anyone convicted of trivial summary offences like TV licence evasion. 

Previously, a person pleading guilty to TV licence evasion might have faced a fine of around £100 (although often lower), £120 costs and £20 victim surcharge. The total amount payable would therefore have been in the region of £240. 

Even if they had pleaded not guilty, but were later found guilty by summary trial, it is unlikely the total amount payable would have exceeded £400.

Under the new system, a person pleading guilty to TV licence evasion would pay an additional £150, bringing the total cost to £390.

But if the defendant was convicted after a not guilty plea they would have to pay an additional £720. With the higher fine and costs associated with conviction by trial, the total amount payable could be almost £1,200.

Defendants accused of summary offences therefore face a stark decision: Do they plead guilty, whether or not they actually are, simply because it's the most economical option?

Richard Monkhouse, Chairman of the Magistrates' Association, is sceptical about the new charge: "Our members had concerns about this last year because, in our opinion, the potential impact of charges on defendants' pleas needed more analysis. There are ongoing concerns about criminal fine collection rates generally speaking, with efficiency in collection varying from area to area, so now that this is law, relevant agencies need to ensure proper processes are in place to make this work.

"Considering there is no judicial discretion in imposing these charges, our members are concerned it may make dealing with cases more difficult, not least because many offences have a financial element in the first place. It would be helpful to examine the impact of this change in say six months to see what works and what doesn’t."

Members of the legal profession have similar concerns. Speaking to The Law Society Gazette, Society President Andrew Caplan described the new charges as "outrageous" and "a threat to fair trials".

Mr Caplan added: "We are unaware of there having been any form of consultation as to these amounts. It is particularly disturbing that the Government has tabled these Regulations, which will be subject to no debate, in the final week of this Parliament."

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Edit (11/8/2015): We have just written a further post on this subject, which you can read here.

Essex TV Licensing Goon Clifford

An elderly TV Licensing goon by the name of Clifford was caught plying his immoral trade in Essex earlier today.

The video, originally uploaded to YouTube by our colleague ScreamCrow Face, shows the comical moment when Clifford's smile fades in terror the moment he is confronted by the mask-wearing camera man.

ScreamCrow Face has kindly agreed to us condensing the footage and re-uploading it to our own YouTube channel.

Clifford doesn't hang around once the occupier makes clear he isn't welcome. The portly goon retreats to his car, which is parked a good 50 yards further down the street. He drives a light blue Vauxhall Agila, registration number AV12 KPZ.

Remember that TV Licensing goons have no more rights to visit a property than anyone else. The occupier of a legally-licence-free property, as is the case here, is under no legal obligation whatsoever to communicate or co-operate with TV Licensing.

Furthermore, it is perfectly legal for the occupier of any property to record any TV Licensing goons that visit.

TV Licensing Detector Van Spotted in Derby

New video footage has emerged showing a TV Licensing detector van conducting (supposedly) covert operations in Derby.

The same van, registration number VX09 VZP, was previously sighted in Liverpool back in April 2014.

It was recorded yesterday by the legally-licence-free occupier of a property in the Chaddesden area of the city. 

In characteristic fashion, the van sped off as soon as it became apparent that the occupier was approaching with a camera.

According to TV Licensing, it has a "fleet" of these vans operating across the UK. The same type of van is always used - a plain white, high-top VW Transporter. 

The vans are quite distinctive. They have a window panel door on the nearside, with a smaller pale-green curtained window directly above. The offside has a single window panel, but no door. The larger windows are blacked out, but the smaller curtained window is not.

Previous images show a lens mounted behind the curtained window. Capita Court Presenter Chris Christophorou, has previously discussed the significance of that lens.

The BBC retains ownership of these vans and associated equipment, but for convenience sake they are registered to the relevant Capita detection manager. The equipment within the vans was installed by Cambridge-based dB Broadcast Ltd, which is also responsible for any ongoing maintenance.

The current vans all bear 09 registration numbers, which means they were first registered in 2009/10. Capita contracts a company called Leasedrive to undertake the mechanical maintenance of the vans, although this is sub-contracted to a number of local garages and dealerships.

Given the regularity with which the same vans are spotted, we estimate that there are no more than ten of them covering the whole of the UK. The use of detection is certainly not widespread or routine, as TV Licensing would have people believe.

You can read a lot more about TV Licensing's use of detection in this article.

TV Licence and Mobile Phones

An increasing number of viewers are ditching their normal static TV sets in favour of watching programmes on the move, but do they know the legalities of doing so?

This Bank Holiday weekend in particular, a lot of people will be away from home and seeking some alternative method of watching their favourite TV programmes.

The overwhelming majority of people in that situation are already licensed to receive TV programmes on the move, by virtue of the fact that their home address is covered by a valid TV licence. 

Anyone whose home address is covered by a valid TV licence is also covered to receive TV programmes elsewhere, as long as they use a device powered by its own internal battery and without an external aerial (e.g. an unplugged laptop, tablet or smartphone). That could be in their caravan somewhere in the Lake District, or it could be walking around town doing the shopping.

Suppose, hypothetically speaking, that a person wanted to receive TV programmes on the move, but their home address was not already covered by a valid TV licence. People in that situation, which must be an infinitesimally small minority, would technically require a TV licence before they started receiving TV programmes on the move.

To summarise: If you're watching on a mobile device, the chances are you are already correctly licensed to do so.

Of course the chances of being caught evading the TV licence on the move are also infinitesimally small (read as non-existent). 

How would you react if some randomer approached you in the street and asked "what are you doing with your mobile phone?"

TV Licensing Visiting Officer Code of Conduct

Given some of the antics we've seen over the years, it is hard to believe that TV Licensing has a "Code of Conduct" it expects employees to comply with.

In practice it's one of those documents that exists on paper, but is ignored on an almost daily basis. The rules exist so that Capita, the TV Licensing operations contractor, can hide behind them when it suits, but turn a blind eye to them when no-one is watching.

We have spoken to former TV Licensing goons who have told us that the rules are quite strict on paper, but managers are fully aware they go out of the window during enquiries.

Below, for educational purposes, is the Code of Conduct TV Licensing goons are expected to comply with. Forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes:

____________________

The need to treat each visit confidentially and make the enquiry without causing offence is paramount.

When making a visit, Visiting Officers are expected to:

• Always prove their identity by showing their identity card and on request provide a telephone number so that this can be confirmed.
• Always state why they are visiting.
• Be polite and courteous at all times. This extends to any notes written about the customer/interviewee on the Visit Request and Record of Interview, or elsewhere.
• Conduct enquiries firmly and fairly and in the least intrusive way possible.
• Never threaten or intimidate and to stop the enquiry if asked to leave.
• Only enter a property when given permission.
• When necessary, to take a statement in accordance with the law and to ask the interviewee to sign it as an accurate account of the interview.
• Make sure the interviewee knows the possible consequences where a statement has been taken.

Contact your Visiting Manager if you are unsure of any aspect of the procedures.

You do not have the authority to give "time to pay". Even if a licence is purchased, the interviewee may still be prosecuted for the offence.

New Magazine for "Axe the TV Tax" Campaign

The Freedom Association has just released the first edition of the TV Freedom magazine.

The magazine keeps readers up to date with the latest developments in the "Axe the TV Tax" campaign, which seeks to highlight the obsolescence of the current BBC funding model.

Our eye was instantly drawn to the stat porn on page 3 of the opening edition. According to those figures, the BBC has spent the equivalent of:

• 66,000 TV licence fees on hotel bills.
• 69,000 TV licence fees on golden goodbyes.
• 689,000 TV licence fees on the abandoned Digital Media Initiative.
• 6,800,000 TV licence fees on moving BBC News operations to Broadcasting House.

There has never been a better time to stop funding the BBC, but anyone doing so should make sure they cancel their TV licence in the correct manner.

The new TV Freedom magazine: Grab your copy here.

TV Licensing Goons: Feeding on the Harassment of Innocent People

There's been a recent drought of TV Licensing goon videos, so we are somewhat relieved that our noble colleague BanTheBBC has just uploaded new footage to his YouTube channel.

Details are patchy about this one, so we'll try to fill in the gaps sometime in the future.

The Scottish-sounding occupier, who does not legally require a TV licence, claims to have been harassed by TV Licensing on numerous previous occasions. His dialogue with the goon conveys his frustration at TV Licensing's arrogant assumption that he should have prove his innocence.

To his credit, the beanie-wearing goon acts in a civil enough manner throughout, although towards the end he is clearly uncomfortable with the occupier's line of questioning. We highlight his opening salvo that his mission was to get the premises set up with a TV licence it doesn't require.

Below, for educational purposes, we have transcribed the short encounter between goon and occupier:

____________________

Occupier: You don't mind that I'm videoing this? Yeah, what's the problem?

Goon: So, it's just that we sent some letters out to you and I'm just following up on them to get the premises set up with a TV licence.

Occupier: First of all, why are you here harassing me?

Goon: I'm not harassing you. I'm allowed to knock on your door, but if you don't want me here I am more than happy to leave. It's not a problem. Thank you. Bye.

Occupier: No. Come here. What's all this? [holding a hand full of TV Licensing threatograms]

What's with all these threatening letters?

Goon: I don't send the letters or anything Sir.

Occupier: No, you represent the company that send these letters. That's why you're here.

Goon: I'm just here to try and get the licence sorted out. That's all...

Occupier: No, you're here harassing me.

Goon: I'm not harassing you. If you don't want me here, then I'll leave.

Occupier: Right, can I ask you one question?

You need a licence to have a firearm. If you're suspected of having a firearm, the police would be at my door asking to see the licence. Right? [Goon nods]

I don't have a firearm, so the police don't come to my door harassing me.

Goon: I'm nothing to do with the police or anything.

Occupier: But I get harassed about maybe having a television and not having a licence for it.

You understand my point?

Goon: I understand, but it is the law to have a licence for the television if you're having live television streamed into your property. It's the law. It's like...

Occupier: It's the law that I'm allowed to be harassed on suspicion?

Goon: Well, according to this [gestures with handheld device] you haven't got a TV licence, so it's not suspicion.

Occupier: Because I maybe don't have a television!

Goon: Well if you don't all you have to do is inform us and we won't hassle you... once it's been confirmed.

Occupier: So it's my duty to reply to all this crap that you send me? I've got better things to do than that.

Goon: If you don't have a TV you just inform them that you don't have a television and they will send someone around to confirm with you and then that will be the end of it.

Occupier: Don't bother. I don't want harassed. It's as simple as that.

Goon: I'll report it back to them that you don't want any...

Occupier: Report it back to anyone.

No-one is getting in my door to see if I've got a television without a search warrant...

Goon: That's fine.

Occupier: ...and it'll be a search warrant every single time.

Goon: Okay.

Occupier: I've told you this for the fucking 15 years that I've lived here.

Goon: Have you? You've not told me.

Occupier: Yous have been in my house to check on numerous occasions and you've seen that I don't have a television set.

It's as simple as that. Stop coming to my door harassing me on suspicion of something I'm not fucking doing.

Goon: Okay. Well I'll put that into it, that you don't have a TV set and you don't want harassment.

Occupier: Yes. I don't want letters, I don't want door visits, I don't want harassment.

Goon: Well obviously...

Occupier: It's my fucking right as a human being not to be harassed.

Goon: Well obviously I can't... all I can do is put that down. Okay?

Occupier: How have you got the nerve to come to people's doors demanding to see evidence of some fucking crime they're maybes not committing?

How can you do that?

Goon: Who? Me as a person?

Occupier: Yes.

Goon: Quite easily.

Occupier: How?

Goon: Because I've got to live, like everybody else. And everyone has to earn a living.

Occupier: So you feed on harassment of other people.

Goon: I don't harass anybody.

Occupier: You do. You're standing here harassing me right now.

Goon: I've said to you, I'll go away.

Occupier: You come to my door without any evidence.

Goon: Listen, I said to you I would leave a little while ago, but you wanted to keep me here asking questions. I was being polite...

Occupier: You've come to my door without any evidence.

Goon: I was being polite by staying.

Occupier: You're harassing me without evidence.

Goon: Thanks for your time. [Goon turns to walk down garden path]

Occupier: Harassing me without evidence. That's the bottom line.

Don't come back. Wanker.

____________________

It is clear that the occupier in this video is quite confident in dealing with TV Licensing. 

Anyone who lacks the confidence to tackle them head on, should say nothing and close the door.

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