On-the-spot fines for crimes such as being drunk and disorderly, destroying property and shoplifting are being issued at a rate of one every three minutes, according to latest police figures.

The number handed in England and Wales rose by almost 40 per cent in a year as police officers on the streets made use of a swift and economical way of dealing with offenders. But the surge in the use of penalty notices for disorder (PND) has also helped police to meet a key government target because they count towards a ministerial pledge to increase the number of crimes “brought to justice”.

Police representatives claim that the need to meet the target of bringing 1.25 million offences to justice in 2007 to 2008 has “corrupted” the use of PNDs by encouraging officers to use them inappropriately.

Chief Superintendent Derek Barnett, vice-president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, said: “Experience suggests that when used sensibly PNDs have been a useful tool for the police service. But the emphasis on targets for ‘bringing offences to justice’ has corrupted their use.

“Policing is often about common sense and resolving difficult circumstances with discretion. But some individual officers are choosing not to use their discretion perhaps because they feel it is a way of fulfilling the Government’s target.”

Offenders pay either a £50 or £80 penalty even though they may have caused criminal damage of £500 or stolen up to £200 of goods from a shop. Representatives of shopkeepers bitterly oppose PNDs, claiming that they encourage shoplifting by effectively letting offenders off. Today’s figures, obtained by The Times, also fuel growing concern at the rise of a summary justice system parallel to the formal court process.

The big growth in the use of PNDs indicates that large numbers of offenders are being dealt with by means other than a formal prosecution in the courts. A total of 1.3 million offences were brought to justice in the year to the end of March 2006, in excess of the Government’s target of 1.2 million between 2007 and 2008.

Yet the target figure was exceeded only because of the number of offences dealt with outside the court process. Only 53 per cent of offences brought to justice in the year to the end of March 2006 were dealt with by conviction in a court, with the remaining 47 per cent being cautions, PNDs, offences taken into consideration and official warnings for possessing cannabis.

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King’s College London said that the Government had met its target only by “significantly increasing the number of sanctions that do not formally go to court”. It added: “The number of formal court convictions has been in decline. Whether this state of affairs corresponds with what most members of the public would consider justice seems at best a moot point.”

Rebecca Roberts, a research associate at the centre, said: “PNDs represent an erosion of due process and the creation of a summary justice system.”

But the PNDs have strong support within the Government and police service. A spokesman for Kent Police said: “PNDs are quick, efficient and clinical. Their use has freed up officers who would otherwise be dealing with minor offences — often impeding the investigation of more serious crimes.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The increase in the use of PNDs is evidence of their success and usefulness in dealing with low-level nuisance offending. It is right to deal with simple, straightforward cases in this prompt and effective way, saving police time, reducing bureaucracy and reserving courts for disputed and more complex cases.”

PNDs can be handed out for offences including behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others, being drunk and disorderly in a public place, destroying or damaging property up to the value of £500, shoplifting to the value of £200 and using threatening words or behaviour. A person who has been given a PND must pay the penalty within 21 days and does not receive a criminal conviction.

Instant justice

- The figures obtained by The Times show that the number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued by police jumped to 180,083 last year, a 38 per cent increase on 2005

- Overall, a total of 360,000 PNDs have been issued since they were introduced in 2004 as a means of delivering swift, cost-effective justice while freeing police to concentrate on more serious crime

- Top of the list for issuing PNDs were the Metropolitan Police, which handed out 51,665, followed by Lancashire (30,894), Merseyside (27,591), West Yorkshire (24,634) and Greater Manchester (22,635)

- The figures came from 36 of the 43 forces in England and Wales under freedom-of-information laws

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