Should repaying shops be the priority and not the court poor box?
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What is the court poor box and how does it function?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. But if someone has stolen from a business, should the business be the entity that gets the compensation? Well, Vincent Jennings is here, CEO of Convenience Stores and the News Agents Association for more on this. Vincent, you're welcome to the programme. You don't have a problem with the poor box per se, but you say first things first. And if a shop has had goods or money stolen from them, that they should be compensated first.
Absolutely. You got it in one. This is a situation where we want the state to acknowledge that the victims of crime, and in this instance, obviously, because I represent retailers, I'm speaking about retailers, but any victim of a crime who has suffered a financial loss. that they are treated effectively as preferential creditors if the matter comes before the courts, and that the presenting guard, the DPP, must inform the judge that there is money outstanding or that compensation has been paid to allow that judge to take the decision as to how to dispense with any matters relating to a non-fine or otherwise.
OK, so there was a case in Athlone, a recent court case, and this defendant had committed three drive off fuel thefts and he came to court with money for the poor box. And this was the one really that you were asked about. And you said, look, if he had money for the poor box, that money should have gone to the garage owners.
Yeah, and I don't believe that actually the solicitor who represented the man actually said, this is for the poor box, he said he's brought €300 into court by way of mitigation. And the judge should, I'll be perfectly honest with you, the judge should have actually said, because they knew that it was €125 worth of fuel had been stolen from these people, and it should have inquired, has compensation been paid? It hadn't. We know because they're members of ours. And they should have said, OK, well, we'll take the 300 and 100 each to the service stations or at very bare minimum, although we'd argue against that, at very bare minimum, the cost of the fuel that had been lost. That would not be unfair.
Does it bother you that the defendant in these cases, if they come with money for the poor box, they can avoid a criminal conviction?
No, it doesn't bother me. That's a matter for the courts. It truly is. I mean, look, I've got enough on my plate to worry about retailers. This is, you know, I can have an opinion on a private matter.
Should businesses receive compensation for theft over charitable donations?
But I mean, in this instance, no.
But I suppose there is a wider issue, you know, that those who can afford it can use the poor box system. Those who can't do get a criminal conviction.
Yeah, and as you quite rightly pointed out, I mean, this was first highlighted back in 2004 by the Law Reform Commission, where they were very clear that there were difficulties that came from this, that some people could afford not to. And others, they also pointed out that some judges could favour certain charities or some judges could be predisposed in a certain way. Some judges don't operate the poor system. Some operate it under a committee. Others, it's completely their game.
I was actually looking at how it's run today. It's quite loose, really, isn't it? How the decisions are made. And I know it's run very well in many places around the country. But there are no safeguards in place here when it comes to the administration of the poor box.
There are absolutely no safeguards in place because there is no law relating to it. There is an annual report provided through the court service. That is money that the information has been given to them by the various, the 23 courts around the country. But as to who operates it, how it's operated, what the I mean, is it all to be spent within the locality for local charities? I mean, there are no rules around that. None whatsoever.
So I know you said that you don't want to see the poor box abolished altogether. That's not what you're saying. But if the defendants come in with money and that money is used to compensate the shop owner.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the court poor box and how does it function?
0:01–2:46
2
Should businesses receive compensation for theft over charitable donations?
2:46–4:24
3
What are the implications of using the poor box system for offenders?
4:24–7:42
4
How do judges decide on compensation versus poor box donations?
7:42–11:07