Sir, - I see that the court "poor box" system is still alive according to the papers of July 28th, which report that at Kilcock Court eight people were apparently all charged with the same offence. Four of those left court with a recorded conviction and a fine of £300, while the other four offenders were allowed to pay £500 and completely escape having a conviction recorded against them.
This simply means that those who can afford to pay extra can escape having a criminal conviction recorded against them. In other words, those who have money are allowed by some of our courts to buy their way out of the proper legal consequences of being found guilty of a breach of the criminal law, while, of course, those who cannot afford the extra cash have a legal conviction recorded against them. This recorded conviction almost always means at least a much larger fine if they happen to reoffend.
This is obviously wrong, and I find it difficult to understand why it is allowed to continue. - Yours, etc.,
Patrick J. Brennan, Retired DC Judge, Claremorris, Co Mayo.