THE payment rate of fines issued by criminal courts in Kent is among the highest in the country.

During the last five months criminal justice agencies in the county have ensured that few offenders have been able to escape punishment.

In the latest published statistics (October to December 2005) Kent tops the national table collecting 130 per cent of fines imposed in the county (includes fines imposed in previous months when time to pay was given).

The success is in part due to Operation Payback, a joint campaign by Kent Police and HM Courts Service, to crack down on 250 outstanding financial warrants.

Of these 79 people paid in full after a visit from the police and a further 164 paid part of the fine and were given time to pay the rest. The cash collected amounted to £28,559.

Four people were sent to prison for failing to pay and a further ten were given suspended prison sentences for not paying.

Stephen Savage, new chairman of the Kent Criminal Justice Board and area director (Kent) for HM Courts Service, said: “As a Board representing the criminal justice agencies in Kent we want to send out a clear message that fines have to be paid.

"Paying is not optional and defaulters will be tracked down by the police and, if necessary, brought back before the courts.

“We are pleased that in Kent the agencies are working well together, sharing information and ensuring that those who have been punished do not get away with it.”

According to the latest statistics for the performance of the criminal justice system, Kent has also seen:

A total of 32,490 offences brought to justice (resulting in charge, caution or taken into consideration). This already meets the target set for the end of 2006/07.

Ineffective trials in the Crown Court, for example those which do not go ahead on the scheduled day, perhaps because witnesses do not attend, have dropped from 28.4 per cent four years ago to 12.8 per cent.