Thousands of criminals escape paying victims compensation because of computer error

All offenders are supposed to pay a "victim surcharge" of £15, which goes towards support services for victims of crime and witnesses.

But millions of pounds in unpaid payments have now been lost because the new system installed to monitor the funds only recognises offenders who have been fined.

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So far, only £1.1m of the £16m target has been collected because those jailed or given community sentences are not charged.

People handed minor convictions and who receive a fine are still being handed the surcharge, but those convicted of more serious crimes and who are given jail sentences are being let off.

Magistrates realise that there is a problem and say that it needs to be changed.

Richard Bristow, who has been a magistrate for 20 years and chairs the bench at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in Hillingdon, west London, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme courts were "in the business of trying to be fair" but at the moment that the system was failing.

"We are just there to apply the law as Parliament has made it, but we think this is unfair and it is inconsistent and it's not as if we weren't thinking about victims all along anyway," he said.

The problems are the result of a multi-million pound computer system called Libra which was installed in April. Workers say that the system has been plagued with problems from the start.

Mr Bristow added: "Everybody who works in the system has heard so many complaints about Libra. It's never done what it was supposed to do.

"It was supposed to make all the administration of the courts much simpler and quicker and run smoother, but it's too complicated."

The Ministry of Justice said that by the end of October collections of the victims' surcharge stood at £1,078,621.

The Magistrates' Association wants to see a new victims' fund set up, which would enable courts to hand over compensation immediately to victims and recover the cash from criminals at a later date.

A spokeswoman said although Mr Bristow was not speaking on their behalf, he raised important points.

She said: "The surcharge was rushed in in April and some parts were ill thought-out.

"We asked for it to be suspended until those issues were dealt with."

She said magistrates want the surcharge to be fair and some have resigned over the issue.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We believe the victims surcharge is a proportionate and proper response to offending as part of the Government's drive to rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority."