Thousands of pounds have been recovered from fines dodgers in the Highlands and Moray after offenders had their bank accounts frozen.
In Inverness, 18 people with outstanding fines paid up more than £2,000 for offences – ranging from assault and drugs misuse to embezzlement – after fines enforcement officers applied for bank arrestment orders.
Four fines non-payers from the Tain area stumped up £1,370 between them for various offences including assault and road traffic breaches, while two offenders from Elgin paid £555 for outstanding road traffic fines imposed at Elgin Sheriff and JP Court.
The recoveries were made during the three months from January 11 to April 11, 2016.
Arresting bank accounts is one of a number of measures available to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) for recovering unpaid fines.
Other measures include taking money directly from earnings or benefits, clamping cars and non-payers can even be arrested when travelling abroad through ports and airports.
SCTS chief operations officer David Fraser said: “The fines enforcement team continue to be highly effective in securing unpaid fines – ignoring your fine and not speaking to an enforcement officer if you are having difficulty paying is very unwise. Failure to pay, or to engage with our officers, will result in strong sanctions being taken including arrestment of wages, bank accounts, your car being clamped or inconvenience and embarrassment by being arrested when travelling abroad.”
