It has been long established that if you plead guilty in the criminal courts you could (and probably would) face some form of financial penalty, depending on the nature of the offence and your circumstances. Until October 2012, if acquitted you were able to recoup your costs from the State if you had paid for your representation privately. Since January 2014, you are no longer entitled to recover all your costs and, in most cases, only recoup less than a third. However, since 13 April 2015, if you appear in court facing a criminal charge, unless acquitted, you will face having to pay the Criminal Charge.

The previous Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, brought in the Criminal Charge on the back of the ‘criminals need to pay their way’ policy. In essence, even if a court decides that no other punishment should be handed down, the defendant will have to pay a victim surcharge (starting at £15) and a minimum of £150 for the Criminal Charge.

I recently advised a defendant who was summonsed to court for theft of milk powder from a shop. She had not left the shop and my advice was that not all the elements of the Theft Act had been made out and she therefore had a strong defence. However, I also had to advise that, should be plead not guilty and was found to be guilty, the minimum Criminal Charge payment could be £1,000. My client, on benefits, told me she wanted to plead guilty as she could just about pay £165 over a year but would never be able to pay the £1,000.

The Criminal Charge applies to all offences and breaches committed after 13 April 2015, and is fixed by the type of offence and the plea. A guilty plea in the Magistrates’ Court to a summary only offence attracts £150, while a trial in the Magistrates’ Court for a more serious matter will raise a charge of £1,000. Higher rates apply in the Crown Court.

These financial penalties can be quashed after two years but, in the meantime, the bailiffs will have had their say.