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Television License Couple in their 60s face prison

  • 14-08-2013 06:46PM
    #1
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭


    And both of them have medical conditions.

    They're expecting the gardaí to come for them this Friday or next Monday.

    http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/struggling-oaps-face-prison-over-tv-licence-fine-29499019.html

    Now, I realise that laws are laws. But for not paying a tax on what is in many ways, a big waste of space (RTE), I think going to prison is a punishment not suitable for such an "offence".

    To threaten such means that inevitably, vulnerable people such as the couple in the story end up behind bars for however brief a stay, even though they've never put a foot wrong previously. Imagine their fear as they walk through the gates of Mountjoy?

    The system is rotten.


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Comments

  • #2
    wazky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,516 ✭✭✭wazky


    Sure its ridiculous not paying the fee, the big stars need to be paid for the "quality" programming they churn out.


  • #3
    NegativeCreep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,351 ✭✭✭NegativeCreep


    If you have a tv you need to have a license. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and have medical conditions.


  • #4
    markc1184
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭markc1184


    Do OAPs not get a free license? Or a contribution of some sorts?


  • #5
    eviltwin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    No one should be in prison for not paying their tv license. There are better ways to deal with them.


  • #6
    kneemos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,605 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    It's a trip to the prison,tea and sambos and home again,no way they'll be kept.


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  • #7
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    It's a ridiculous waste of finite and expensive prison resources.
    There are much much less expensive ways of collecting unpaid fines/fees etc etc.


  • #8
    Frosty McSnowballs
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,396 ✭✭✭Frosty McSnowballs


    Pfft, if he can afford fancy jumpers and posh canes he can afford to pay the fine!


  • #9
    Am Chile
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,025 ✭✭✭Am Chile


    One law for the rich yet another law for the average working person-defraud the state for millions as the anglo bankers have done you get to get away with it and live abroad-be an old age pensioner its jail time for not paying a tv licence- I honestly for the life of me cannot understand the apathy of a lot of irish people why they arent protesting over double standards.


  • #10
    Banjo String
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,380 ✭✭✭✭Banjo String


    Paging the high horse brigade. Paging high horse brigade.....


    edit. Ssssshhhhhh..... They're here already ^^^. :cool:


  • #11
    Frank Black
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,296 ✭✭✭Frank Black


    Sure, it's harsh.
    But, it also sends out a strong message to others.
    Pay your dues, or end up in the clinker.


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  • #12
    Tombi!
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,689 ✭✭✭Tombi!


    So let me get this right: we let the 18 year old scumbag go free but we want to imprison the 60 year old couple.


  • #13
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,173 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Wow Indo, a new low here. Nobody ever heard of due process? He got the final notice two weeks ago and yet he reckons the Gardai are going to come along any day now and bang him up in the joy without ever facing a judge?

    Bargain basement journalism right there.


  • #14
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    NegativeCreep wrote: »
    If you have a tv you need to have a license. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and have medical conditions.

    Did I say otherwise? No, I didnt.

    I said laws are laws but that imprisonment is not a suitable punishment for failure to contribute to the wasteful organization that is RTE.

    A payment plan should be facilitated for such circumstances.


  • #15
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    Frank Black wrote: »
    Sure, it's harsh.
    But, it also sends out a strong message to others.
    Pay your dues, or end up in the clinker.

    Thereby taking up space meaning prisons have to release actual criminals earlier than planned.


  • #16
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,060 ✭✭✭✭biko


    Hey, if the govt just took her roller and his cane away they couldn't leave the house anyway. Just like prison.


  • #17
    UCDVet
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,894 ✭✭✭UCDVet


    NegativeCreep wrote: »
    If you have a tv you need to have a license. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and have medical conditions.

    TV license is designed to raise revenue....
    Putting these people in jail will cost many years worth of TV license fees.

    Would make a lot more sense to seize the TVs of offenders. At least, until the new law goes into effect where anyone with any electronic device is a devout fan of RTE.

    Of course, in Ireland, your age and ability to pay makes a huge difference in just about everything else. At the same time the government is telling us that TV is vital that, even those of us without TVs are benefiting from the many ways RTE improves our lives - they're sticking with the story that it's not important for the poor or needy?

    Our whole tax system is based around what people can reasonably pay. We have safety nets to protect the poor and elderly. We'd provide them with money to pay for food, rent, give them free medical care, tax them at different rates, and even give them breaks on public transportation. Awesome!

    Treating people like this over a TV license fee is awfully ridiculous and hypocritical in a country like Ireland. Especially when you consider how expensive it is. You can pick up a low-end TV that will work for 10 years - and the license fee will cost 10x more than the TV itself.

    Ironically, if they end up in prison, they'll still get to watch TV. They'll probably have wi-fi soon enough:
    http://www.thejournal.ie/wi-fi-irish-prisons-989103-Jul2013/


  • #18
    Tin Foil Hat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭Tin Foil Hat


    NegativeCreep wrote: »
    If you have a tv you need to have a license. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and have medical conditions.

    Bollox to that. If you have a car you need petrol. You don't need a licence to watch TV. The TV licence is nothing less than a protection racket.


  • #19
    NegativeCreep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,351 ✭✭✭NegativeCreep


    kraggy wrote: »
    Did I say otherwise? No, I didnt.

    I said laws are laws but that imprisonment is not a suitable punishment for failure to contribute to the wasteful organization that is RTE.

    A payment plan should be facilitated for such circumstances.

    They aren't going to go to jail I doubt. He only got a letter two weeks ago. I highly doubt a judge would sentence them.


  • #20
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    seamus wrote: »
    Wow Indo, a new low here. Nobody ever heard of due process? He got the final notice two weeks ago and yet he reckons the Gardai are going to come along any day now and bang him up in the joy without ever facing a judge?

    Bargain basement journalism right there.

    No fan of the Indo but maybe that's how the couple actually FEEL. Them warning letters use threatening language which to an older person can seem intimidating.


  • #21
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    NegativeCreep wrote: »
    They aren't going to go to jail I doubt. He only got a letter two weeks ago. I highly doubt a judge would sentence them.

    How about the 292 people who went to prison last year for tv license issues? You think that's a good utilization of prison space?


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  • #22
    Frank Black
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,296 ✭✭✭Frank Black


    kraggy wrote: »
    Thereby taking up space meaning prisons have to release actual criminals earlier than planned.

    Thereby making others think twice about shirking their responsibilities, generating more revenue for the exchequer and allowing us to build more prisons.


  • #23
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    markc1184 wrote: »
    Do OAPs not get a free license? Or a contribution of some sorts?

    Presumably the non payment occurred before he turned 65.


  • #24
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    kraggy wrote: »
    A payment plan should be facilitated for such circumstances.
    The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2012 is to allow for this.


  • #25
    A Primal Nut
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,949 ✭✭✭A Primal Nut


    Am Chile wrote: »
    One law for the rich yet another law for the average working person-defraud the state for millions as the anglo bankers have done you get to get away with it and live abroad-be an old age pensioner its jail time for not paying a tv licence- I honestly for the life of me cannot understand the apathy of a lot of irish people why they arent protesting over double standards.

    What's your solution? Ireland have to build s strong case to extradite someone from the US. it's not as easy as you make out.


  • #26
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    Frank Black wrote: »
    Thereby making others think twice about shirking their responsibilities, generating more revenue for the exchequer and allowing us to build more prisons.

    Like Thornton hall? You know the super prison that was supposed to be built on the land that the gov bought off some ministers brother/cousin/friend for 5x what it was worth?


  • #27
    9959
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,785 ✭✭✭9959


    I hope at the very least that they are given access to a television.

    Are they a danger to society?
    Will they both agree to enrol in a rehabilitation program whilst 'inside'?

    These are the questions.

    By the way, I'm surprised that they haven't yet been called 'scumbags' by some of the more agitated posters here on AH.


  • #28
    bumper234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,250 ✭✭✭✭bumper234


    A Primal Nut wrote: »
    What's your solution? Ireland have to build s strong case to extradite someone from the US. it's not as easy as you make out.

    Not all of those scumbags are abroad.


  • #29
    minidazzler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,650 ✭✭✭✭minidazzler


    It's morally wrong and reprehensible to threaten violence on people for not paying a tax.


  • #30
    silverharp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,853 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    NegativeCreep wrote: »
    If you have a tv you need to have a license. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and have medical conditions.

    no you don't, my tv works perfectly well without a tv licence

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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  • #31
    Crea
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭Crea


    If they are receiving the state pension any fine should be deducted from this over a number of months.


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