The poor box is a non-statutory system used by the District Courts to impose fines on offenders, with the sums given to charity instead of the person receiving a criminal conviction. Photograph: ThinkstockA road safety group has expressed concern after the number of people who had speeding offences struck out or dismissed after making a contribution to court ‘poor boxes’ almost doubled last year.
The system has been controversial for many years, with Mr Justice Gerard Hogan ruling in 2014 that its use for penalty point offences was specifically barred under the Road Traffic Act 2010. He held that the Act removed the discretion of judges to use the poor box for such offences and its further use was “incorrect”.
A further 45 people had a conviction struck out by contributing to the poor box in the first half of this year. Parc founder Susan Gray, whose husband Stephen was killed by an unaccompanied learner driver in December 2004, said she was concerned by the figures as use of the court poor box should be a thing of the past. She said the group has written to every judge in the State asking for them not to offer the option.