Christmas in jail for teen with huge fines bill

The teenager who sparked national outrage when his $43,000 in unpaid fines was wiped in exchange for community work now looks likely to spend Christmas in prison.

 

Nigel Caleb Wikiriwhi Dixon, 17, had his fines cancelled in exchange for 300 hours of community work, a court decision that brought a hail of criticism from politicians and the public.

The deal meant he would have been working off his debt at a rate of $144 an hour.

But the teenager - who told reporters he would not pay his fines because he hated police - did not contact the probation service for the community work, and ended up back in court.

His case highlights a growing debt of millions of dollars owed in fines.

One individual owes $1.8 million for customs and traffic offences.

Dixon pleaded guilty this week in the Rotorua District Court to a charge of breaching community work, and was told he faced Christmas behind bars.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of three months' jail.

Judge James Weir described the teenager's list of convictions since January 2002 as "appalling", and his criminal record as "truly impressive".

"You have attracted a degree of publicity that is totally out of proportion to the contribution you make to the community," he said.

"Your offending is not going to be tolerated. What I have in mind is a sentence of imprisonment."

Dixon's mother, Sue, told the Weekend Herald her son needed help, not prison.

Over five of his teenage years, his father, uncle and brother had died.

Ms Dixon said her son "has a big mouth", and the comments he made about the police were stupid.

"Nigel's father and uncle died, and then his older brother was killed in a road accident three years ago and that's when the problems started," said Ms Dixon.

"He is a good boy, but stupid and angry, and he needs some help for that and not to be behind bars.

"But maybe in prison he will finally get it."

Dixon was remanded in custody to re-appear for sentencing next Friday.

He is one of almost half a million people who have overdue fines, says the Ministry of Justice.

Of those, almost 20 per cent are without a "last known at" address or have an invalid address, meaning there is little hope of recovering the money owed.

 

The 488,529 fine defaulters owe $324.3 million.

One owes $1.82 million for 43 customs and traffic offences imposed in 1997 and 1998.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said that of the top five biggest debts, two of the individuals were believed to be overseas, one was in prison and "we do not have current addresses for the other two".

All had a variety of enforcement actions taken against them, including the issue of warrants to seize property, warrants to arrest and summons to appear in court, said the spokeswoman.

National Party law and order spokesman Tony Ryall said the fines system needed an overhaul.

"The worst thing is wiping the debts, because victims cannot wipe their pain away," he said.

Stricter controls on the first fines were needed to stop overdue penalties spiralling out of control.

"Young law-abiding students owe large loans and the money is deducted from their pay," Mr Ryall said. "This needs to happen with the criminals."

The Minister for Courts, Rick Barker, has issued a discussion document on reform of the infringement system.

Measures proposed include making parents pay their children's fines, tourists being made to clear debts before they can leave New Zealand and the cars of repeat traffic offenders being crushed.