Judge attacks 'namby pamby' on-the-spot fines as he jails serial thief

Timothy Nash launched his attack on the Government's fixed-penalty policy while jailing a serial thief who stole a pensioner's purse.

Pickpocket Ann Gilheaney had committed an identical offence two years earlier, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Despite the fact that she had convictions for more than 30 previous thefts, on that occasion she had been given just an £80 on-the-spot fine.

Jailing Gilheaney, 46, for 14 months for her latest offence, Judge Nash said the fixed penalty had been the equivalent of a parking ticket.

"It is a ridiculous approach to dishonesty because it's unfair as far as the community is concerned. It is stupidity in practice.

"One day we will all wake up to the namby-pamby, politically-correct approach that for economic reasons seems to be adopted to save the police paperwork - instead of letting them get on with their jobs.

"The issue of a penalty notice ticket for the criminal offence of shoplifting as a device is stupidity in practice.

"It means, not infrequently, that people don't have their difficulties addressed by a court, which is better able to deal with shoplifters than anybody issuing what is in effect a parking ticket."

Gilheaney had been found guilty of stealing 82-year-old Doris Atkins's purse while she was shopping at a supermarket in Dover.

The judge's attack will re-ignite the debate over Labour's decision to spare almost 200,000 offenders every year the humiliation of a court appearance.

It means police are increasingly reliant on issuing fines - last year, 193,000 were handed out, a rise of 30 per cent on 2005.

This is the equivalent of 22 every hour for offences such as theft, criminal damage, drunk and disorderly and throwing fireworks.

Ministers plan to increase their use even further by issuing police with electronic ticketing machines, which will print out the fines to save time.

Critics said the machines will make giving a criminal a fine which carries no criminal record - rather than prosecuting them - even more attractive to over-stretched forces.

Under the Government's rules for counting the number of offenders brought to justice - a key police target - the fines carry the same weight as a conviction through the courts.

Critics, including rank-and-file police, say this has placed enormous pressure on officers to take the easier option.

Last night a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said current guidelines warn that on-the-spot fines do not cover theft or mugging.

"They also make clear that they should not usually be used for those who repeatedly offend," he added.