BBC Opposes Single Justice Procedure Reforms

The BBC has expressed opposition to proposed reforms of the Single Justice Procedure that would see TV Licensing compelled to review mitigation prior to commencement of prosecution.

You can read my earlier thoughts on the SJP in these articles:

• The Single Justice Procedure (general overview);
• Concern Mounts Over the Fairness of the Single Justice Procedure;
• Single Justice Procedure: Urgent Clarification Needed;
• Magistrates' Association Calls for Improvements to Single Justice Procedure.

The BBC, under the guise of TV Licensing, is by far the largest prosecutor of SJP cases.

Under the current system, which I think most people involved in the criminal justice system would agree is flawed, anyone who receives an SJP Notice has to return the completed form direct to the court, instead of passing it back to the prosecutor for final review.

This means the prosecutor never sees any mitigation on the completed SJP Notice and therefore cannot take a view on whether the prosecution should continue in the public interest.

The BBC has suggested that it is "impractical" and "inefficient" for prosecutors to review the completed SJP Notices prior to them being forwarded to the court.

According to the BBC, it already conducts a public interest test based on the information it has about alleged TV licence fee evaders at the time it commences prosecution. In 2024 the Corporation claims to have withdrawn 1,000 prosecutions that didn't make the grade.

The Standard journalist Tristan Kirk has been doing stirling work over the last few years highlighting some of the many inadequacies with the current SJP system. He has published horrific accounts of how the BBC has considered it appropriate to prosecute alleged TV licence evaders who are dying, bereaved and suffering from severe mental health difficulties.

The cynic in me says that it doesn't fit the BBC's agenda for TV Licensing to review each completed SJP Notice, as that might result in an increased number being withdrawn from prosecution. The way the BBC enforces the TV licence is less about carrot and more about stick - e.g. pay up, or else.

TV Licensing enforcement relies very heavily on the (increasingly inaccurate) idea that a high proportion of evaders are caught and prosecuted. The BBC, which is currently losing TV licence revenue hand over fist, would not want anything that detracted from that message.

Of course any Government with the gumption and moral fibre could solve this particular problem at a stroke - decriminalise TV licence evasion.

Cheshire Fuel Card Fraudster Ripped Off Logistics Company

A Cheshire fraudster ripped off a logistics company by using a duplicate of one of its fuel cards.

Vladut-Andrei Bungianu, 29, of Longford Street, Orford, Warrington, admitted fraud by false representation when he appeared at Warrington Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 12th June 2025.

Fraud by false representation is an offence under section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006. It has a maximum sentence of 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 10 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. I have previously written a guide to fraud by false representation, which some reader may find of interest.

Magistrates heard that Bungianu, who is a Romanian national, used the fake fuel card to purchase £1,938 worth of diesel from a Runcorn petrol station. The fuel was taken on four separate occasions during the weekend of 14th and 15th September 2024.

The original fuel card was the property of logistics company The Green Group. The vehicle it was assigned to was off the road for servicing that weekend and the original card was in a manager's office. No details were given about how Bungianu acquired the dodgy card.

The 29-year-old was identified by CCTV and arrested by police on 11th October 2024. A search of his property uncovered a fuel pump, barrel and further fake fuel cards.

Bungianu was unrepresented in court and offered no mitigation.

Andrew Waites JP, sentencing, said: "It was a blatant and obvious theft of fuel and it was a substantial value."

Magistrates were of the opinion that Bungianu's offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. However, they elected to suspend the custodial term.

He was sentenced to 24 weeks' custody suspended for 12 months, with the requirement that he completes 120 hours' unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay £154 surcharge, £85 towards prosecution costs and £1,938 in compensation.

Magistrates made a deprivation order in respect of the fake fuel card, pump and barrel.

Absolutely Blotto: Northampton Driver Blew FIVE Times Legal Limit

A Northampton driver blew more than five times the legal drink drive limit just a few days after committing a similar offence.

Harramrit Sohak, 33, of Birchfield Road East, Northampton, admitted driving whilst the amount of alcohol in his breath exceeded the prescribed limit when he appeared at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 11th June 2025.

This is an offence contrary to section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which has a maximum sentence of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine.

Magistrates heard that the police's attention had been drawn to Sohak's purple Audi as it drove on the A1 at Team Valley, Gateshead, during the early hours of Saturday, 14th December 2024.

Ruth Forster, prosecuting, said: "The officer followed the vehicle and saw it driving over the speed limit and swerving over the white lines. He conducted a vehicle check and it came back that the same vehicle had been stopped four days previously and the driver was intoxicated and had been charged with driving with excess alcohol."

You read that correctly - just four days earlier Sohak had again been drunk at the wheel, on that occasion he was just under three times the legal drink drive limit.

In relation to the offence at hand, police followed Sohak's vehicle off the A1 and then required it to stop. The Audi parked up in the Ikea car park, at which point the 33-year-old father-of-three was required to provide a roadside specimen of breath.

Having failed that test he was arrested and taken to the police station, where he provided an evidential specimen containing 183 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - more than five times the prescribed limit of 35 microgrammes.

James Rickerby, mitigating, told the court that his client was a family man who was remorseful for his actions.

Mr Rickerby said: "He's determined not to find himself back before the court and he's ashamed of his actions on that day. He's disgusted at himself that he not only put himself in that position but also others.

"He's got no problem with alcohol or drugs. His mental health at the time was in a bad place and he turned to alcohol to self-medicate. He's taken steps to address that himself."

Magistrates were of the view that Sohak's offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

He was sentenced to 12-weeks' custody suspended for 12 months.

He was also disqualified from driving for a period of 36 months.

Given the circumstances, remorseful family man or not, I would suggest that Sohak has avoided immediate custody by the narrowest of margins.

It is to be hoped that he really has learnt his lesson this time, as police words of advice clearly fell on deaf ears when he was arrested for the first offence.

Bradford Woman Tipped Wheelie Bin Onto Street

A Bradford woman has been convicted of emptying the contents of a wheelie bin onto the street.

Claire Alyson Miller, 41, of Scholemoor Lane, Bradford, admitted an offence of fly-tipping when she appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 11th June 2025.

In England and Wales it is an offence under section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to deposit, or knowingly cause or permit controlled waste to be deposited on any land unless authorised by a valid environmental permit.

The maximum sentence for an offence under section 33 is 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 5 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.

Magistrates heard that Bradford Council received reports of various household items, including a fridge and sofas, being dumped behind a property on Scholemoor Lane.

On one occasion Miller had been challenged by a local business owner, who recorded the interaction. During the recording Miller admitted to dumping some of the waste.

Iftikhar Ahmed, mitigating, told that court that his client had been helping a neighbour empty rainwater from an apparently unused wheelie bin.

Mr Ahmed said: "She accepts they tipped the bin over to clear it out so the neighbour can use it. There was some rainwater on the bin, and they tipped it over to clear it off. When they did, tiles fell out."

Miller's plea was entered on the basis that she accepted dumping the tiles, but none of the other items.

Elizabeth Bourgeois JP, sentencing, said: "The problem with fly-tipping is that once you create a mess, others add to that mess and it gets worse and worse.

"It's something you need to nip in the bud and make sure you don't make a mess in the first place.

"If you would have engaged with the Council you would have just ended up with a fixed penalty notice, but you didn't, and the case escalated."

Miller was fined £200 and ordered to pay £748 in prosecution costs and £80 surcharge.

The fixed penalty, had she engaged with the Council, would have been considerably less than that amount.