$20,000 fines wiped for community work

A Tauranga teenager has had $20,000 in fines wiped in return for community work - equivalent to $50 an hour.

Colm Francis Lenihan's traffic fines were wiped in the Tauranga District Court this week.

The decision comes three weeks after a teenager's $43,000 in fines were wiped controversially in the Rotorua District Court.

The case of 19-year-old Lenihan, an apprentice engineer, has brought calls for a law change to stop criminals from having thousands of dollars in fines wiped for community work - or at least to create guidelines and limits for how much money can be wiped.

A court fines officer told Judge Oke Blaikie that Lenihan had stacked up 83 traffic offences since December 2001.

In May, $11,730 in fines was wiped in exchange for 280 hours' community work, leaving a balance of $35,000.

Judge Blaikie asked Lenihan why he was not paying the fines back and he replied that he earned only $180 a week as an apprentice.

Judge Blaikie then wiped $20,000 from this balance in exchange for 400 hours of community work - equal to 10 standard weeks of work at $50 an hour.

That left Lenihan with $15,000 remaining and he was ordered to repay it at $15 a week, which would take 19 years.

Bay of Plenty MP and National Party justice spokesman Tony Ryall said it was wrong to wipe fines for community work.

"They should be paid by a regular lifetime deduction from earnings. Students have their student debt for their entire working life until they pay it off - there's no reason why offenders shouldn't."

Garth McVicar, of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, said: "I don't think it's fair. I think it sends totally the wrong message to our young people."

It was the result of judges being "liberal to the extreme", he said.

The trust was fighting to standardise sentences countrywide.

- NZPA