Hundreds targeted in crackdown on Huddersfield fine dodgers

Oct 13 2009 By Sam Casey

FINE dodgers in Huddersfield got a wake-up call from police and court enforcement officers in a major crackdown.

About 200 properties were visited yesterday by HM Court Service (HMCS), with police back-up in an operation to recover more than £22,000 in unpaid court penalties.

About £5,000 was paid on the spot.

Twenty-five people who did not pay were arrested and taken straight to Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court, where a special court was in session to deal with unpaid fines.

Two of those who had repeatedly failed to pay went straight to prison.

HMCS operations team manager Julie Robinson said: "It was a really positive day. It’s all about letting people know they can’t get away with not paying their fines."

Among those who received visits yesterday were people who had been fined for driving offences, not having a TV licence and breaching community orders.

Glen Hanson, of Lime Street in Lockwood(NOT Crosland Moor as in pic caption), was taken to court after he answered his door to officers at about 10am.

The court heard the 54-year-old owed more than £2,000 for vehicle and waste management offences going back as far as July 2006.

The list included driving without a proper licence, not having an MOT certificate, failing to surrender a void excise licence and not having a valid operator’s licence for a heavy vehicle.