TV WOES
Nearly 130 people each DAY are being prosecuted for not paying TV licence as most vulnerable unable to defend themselves
Not paying your TV licence is the most common crime in the country outside motoring offences
NEARLY 130 people are being prosecuted each day for not paying their TV licence with the most vulnerable unable to defend themselves, a new investigation has found.
Thousands have been convicted and slapped with hefty fines having been hauled into court by the BBC.
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Many are still found guilty and fined up to £1,000 despite having crippling medical conditions such as dementia and cancer.
The poorest people in Britain struggling to pay the £159 TV licence make up the vast majority of cases with a legal charity fearing "we may see the same level of miscarriages of justice as took place in the Post Office prosecutions".
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of cases are also heard behind closed doors in secret courts, unearthed a Talk TV investigation.
Incredibly, not paying your TV licence is the most common crime in the country outside motoring offences.
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The controversial system - where cases are decided by a single magistrate - was introduced in 2015 to speed up court hearings for low-level offences but critics say it does not hold the same transparency as open courts.
Ministry of Justice figures show that there were 47,622 prosecutions and 44,106 convictions for failing to pay the television licence in the year to the end of June 2022.
Talk TV obtained legal papers to reveal how seriously ill people were still prosecuted despite writing statements to the courts to defend themselves.
One said: "I'm currently seriously ill with 'very severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction' and have been referred to the transplant team.
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"I'm struggling emotionally with what my future might look like or if I will actually have a future.
"My husband lost his job and his income has dropped about £600 a month."
Another said: "I am the main carer for my wife and children who all have mental health issues.
"I am being treated for cancer myself so I have a lot to deal with at the moment."
Former CPS chief Lord Ken Macdonald said all criminal cases should be brought by the Crown Prosecution Service and warned there was a conflict of interest in the BBC launching its own legal action.
He said: “The interest of the BBC in this matter, of course, is ensuring that people pay their licence fee and that's a corporate interest which shouldn't necessarily be wrapped up with a prosecutorial interest and indeed shouldn't be…
“I think all criminal prosecutions should be brought by the independent prosecutor - The Crown Prosecution Service. We saw what happened in the Post Office…"
ITV’s hit drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office has re-highlighted the shocking treatment of over 700 postmasters who were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud in a series of private prosecutions.
The legal charity Appeal warned MPs about what it saw as similar risks facing TV Licensing in 2020, telling the Justice Select Committee, “We may see the same level of miscarriages of justice as took place in the Post Office prosecutions.”
To guarantee the BBC's income, anyone who watches television programmes must have a valid licence for their home, whether they watch it on the internet or on a television.
In December the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said criminal prosecutions for not paying the TV licence fee was morally indefensible.
In a statement, a TV Licensing spokesperson said: “TV Licensing’s primary aim is to help people stay licensed and avoid prosecution - which is always a last resort.”
Meanwhile, the Taxpayers' Alliance wants the licence fee scrapped and replaced with a general tax for a slimmed down BBC.
Speaking to Jeremy Kyle and Rosie Wright on Talk Today, Joe Ventre Of the Taxpayers Alliance said: “What we would like to see at the Taxpayers’ Alliance is a complete reform of the system that jettisons the licence fee altogether.
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"So in essence, what we’d like to see is a really slimmed down BBC... funded by general taxation”
“Whether you support it or not, the licence fee model is quickly running out of steam.”