Widow prosecuted over bill left on late husband's car

A widow has been convicted over a £35 bill on her late husband's car which went unpaid in the weeks after he passed away.

The woman, 51, was taken to court by the DVLA over the slip-up, which happened last July when she was in mourning and making funeral arrangements.

She wrote a letter to explain how she does not drive herself, has never owned a car, and mistakenly did not pay £35.84 in vehicle tax on her husband's Jaguar car when it came into her possession after his death.

However, she was given a criminal conviction after the case was brought through the fast-track Single Justice Procedure (SJP) courts.

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.

The magistrate opted to convict the woman and pass sentence rather than refer the case back to the DVLA to check if the prosecution remained in the public interest.

The DVLA has supported the idea of SJP reform, so that prosecutors automatically see letters sent to the courts in mitigation, potentially containing key information on the circumstances of an alleged offence.

The government 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 the time of the offence, my husband had recently passed away," the widow wrote, in a letter to Barrow-in-Furness Magistrates' Court.

"This was an extremely distressing and overwhelming period in my life.

"I was grieving while also dealing with funeral arrangements and many urgent administrative matters following his death.

"I do not drive and I have never previously owned a vehicle myself. I have very limited understanding of vehicle tax requirements and legal procedures."

In the letter the woman said English was not her first language and she struggled "to fully understand official correspondence".

"During this very difficult time, I did my best to manage everything correctly, but I became confused about the vehicle tax and SORN [statutory off road notification] requirements.

"The vehicle was not used on any public road and was kept parked at my home address at all times.

"There was absolutely no intention to avoid paying vehicle tax or to break the law. As soon as I understood the situation, I took steps to correct it," she added.

At her annual press conference on Tuesday, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr was asked how the public can have confidence in the work of magistrates in the SJP, when hearings are conducted behind closed doors instead of in open court, and it has a habit of regularly producing convictions for extremely vulnerable people over unpaid household bills.

She revealed a top judge has conducted a "nuts and bolts" review of the SJP system in the wake of concerns about how it was operating.

Carr 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."

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