A senior Leicester magistrate, Nigel Allcoat, was suspended and investigated by the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee after he tried to pay part of a defendant’s fine. The asylum seeker was reappearing in court after defaulting on a £180 fine ordered against him in June. He had been ordered to pay this charge under new UK legislation which forces convicted criminals to contribute towards the cost of their court case. As a defaulter, the defendant was liable for further penalisation.
Allcoat, however, was aware of the reality that further fines would likely force the defendant – who, because of his asylum status was unable to work – into criminal activity and thus jeopardise his asylum status. He therefore attempted to pay a portion of the debt himself. Expressing that he had been deeply affected by images of refugees facing riot police in Hungary he said that “these people have travelled for hundreds of miles to reach us, I wanted to show what British justice meant, to show him the character of this country is actually compassionate.” Dismayed by the reaction of court authorities over what he considered to be “a pure, humanitarian act,” the long-standing magistrate felt he had no option but to resign from the bench.
The austere legislation under which the defendant was fined has caused much consternation amongst magistrates. The Magistrates Association, which represents most magistrates in England and Wales, has said that a number of experienced magistrates have resigned in protest of the charges. One issue, as demonstrated by this case, is that the fines are not means tested. Instead, they range from £150 to £1,200, are not linked to the sentence imposed and are set according to the cost of a case. Allcoat has stated that he hopes his “small act makes some contribution towards [the legislation] coming back to haunt those who passed it.”