‘Operation Scrooge’ hits not so artful fine dodgers

More than 90 people who had avoided paying court penalties eventually paid after being sent warning letters by police in the run-up to Christmas.

A total of £8,302 was recovered – most of it compensation the courts had awarded to crime victims.

Insp Paul Sullivan, who heads Morley Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), which was behind the initiative, said: “It’s probably not surprising that the prospect of spending Christmas Day in a cell helped to focus so many people’s minds so successfully.”

Officers from the NPT joined forces with civil enforcement officers from Leeds Magistrates’ Court to run the operation, named after Charles Dickens’s famously mean-spirited character from A Christmas Carol.

Warning letters were sent out to people wanted for failing to pay court fines and inviting them to attend Morley police station on December 19 to settle up.

The letters told them they risked arrest and Christmas in custody if they continued to dodge justice.

A court administration desk was set up at the station. During the day more than 90 people wanted for not paying fines surrendered themselves.

Insp Sullivan added: “This joint initiative between the police and the courts has been an excellent result for victims of crime.

“It also means that more than 90 people managed to avoid spending Christmas in custody by taking our warning seriously and paying what they owed.”