PTSD sufferer is prosecuted for not paying her TV Licence while she was having mental health treatment

A PTSD sufferer has been prosecuted for not paying her TV Licence despite going through mental health treatment at the time.

The 32-year-old woman was visited by a TV Licensing inspector in May and told them she had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was 'not feeling well'.

She was set up with a payment plan and was later prosecuted under the Single Justice Procedure court process for not keeping up with the payments.

But it emerged that the woman had began receiving mental health treatment in hospital in June, when she forgot to pay the fee.

The woman wrote a letter to the court last month, apologising for her missed payments, along with a guilty plea, however this went unseen by the prosecutors and she was convicted anyway.

The SJP process only handles cases based solely on written evidence, meaning that none of the prosecutors ever saw the letter.

The letter, which has been seen by The Evening Standard, read: 'I am currently detained under the mental health act on a section 3.

'I have been in hospital since June of this year and have been struggling with my mental health for a long period (of) time.

'I did not intentionally not pay my TV licence, but due to my mental state during the time of the offence I forgot to pay and I am sincerely sorry.'

The TV Licensing authority said it was unaware of the woman's circumstances at the time and is now reviewing the case.

A TV Licensing spokesperson told The Standard: 'Our primary aim is to help people stay licensed and avoid prosecution, which is always a last resort.

'We followed established process in this case and asked for further information, however, details the customer provided to the court were not made available to TV Licensing.

'We will now contact the customer to review her case.'

The SJP was set up in 2015 to allow magistrates to decide on minor offences, such as using a television without a licence or driving without car insurance, without defendants going to court.

Since being established, there have been a number of incidents where members of the public have been prosecuted.

In February a pensioner with severe dementia who stopped driving two years ago was prosecuted by the DVLA under the controversial Single Justice Procedure.

The 83-year-old kept his classic red 1975 MG in his garage despite giving up driving two years ago. He had been moved into a care home and the very next day he was accused by the DVLA of 'letting his car insurance lapse'.

In response to the Single Justice Procedure, his daughter sent a letter to the court explaining her father's health and also advising that he was living in a care home.

Due to the way the controversial court procedure operates, the DVLA did not look at the evidence presented by his daughter and he eventually received a criminal conviction.

The Magistrates' Association - representing Justice of the Peace across England and Wales - held a major intervention to demand an overhaul of the 'secretive' SJP.

The MA said 'there are concerns' that cases are being brought before magistrates without prosecutors, such as the DVLA or TV Licensing, reading mitigations.

It added: 'Prosecuting authorities may sometimes pursue cases that are not in the public interest, particularly when the defendant is vulnerable.

'This could mean that the pursuit of legal action is disproportionate or unjust given the circumstances.'

It argued prosecutors should be required to read all evidence so that they can 'withdraw the case if they believe it is no longer in the public interest to pursue it'.

The body has called for improved training which it said, at present, does not emphasise that 'magistrates can exercise their discretion' in proceedings.

Research on how to improve the system for vulnerable people, including those with 'learning difficulties' and 'communication challenges', should also be undertaken, it said. It added accredited journalists should be able to observe SJP sittings.