Jen Mills
Published November 23, 2025 10:02am
Updated November 23, 2025 10:03am
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The girl was given the car as a surprise early birthday present – after getting the tax letter (Picture: Getty)
A teenage girl has been given a criminal conviction for not paying £1.67 tax on a surprise car she hadn’t been given yet.
The woman, from Porth in South Wales, had been bought the car as an early 18th birthday present, but didn’t even know it existed at the time.
She was prosecuted under the Single Justice Procedure, a method of dealing with minor offences such as TV licence evasion without the defendant having to go to court.
It can help clear a backlog of cases, but has been criticised for a heavy handed approach which can see people prosecuted when it is not in the public interest.
In the latest controversial ruling, she made a guilty plea, but in a mitigating letter to the court after the DVLA prosecution, the teenager pointed out the car had been taxed the same day she passed her test in June 2025, leaving just a few weeks of it not being taxed, when she was not driving it.
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Her parents had not paid the £20 annual tax it before giving it to her, as they were not sure when she would pass the test, given there is often a three-month wait to rebook after a fail.
The prosecution was brought by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) (Picture: Getty)
‘I kindly ask that you review this offence’
She said in her letter: ‘At the time of this offence, the garage were delivering the vehicle to my parents house in readiness for me passing my driving test as this was a surprise present.
‘As I was not the driver at the time of the offence and not aware that I owned the vehicle, I kindly ask that you review this offence.’
However, magistrate Francine Beckett still gave her a criminal conviction at the court in Burnley on November 13.
She was given a six-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay the £1.67 bill.
The case was reported by the Evening Standard, which has been campaigning on the issue.
It is similar to another case prosecuted under the Single Justice Procedure in August, when a different teenage girl was prosecuted over a car bought as a surprise birthday gift.
She was given a criminal conviction for not insuring the car, although she was not yet aware it would be hers, and had no licence.
‘Not aware it would be mine’
The teenager, a waitress on minimum wage, wrote in a letter to Ipswich Magistrates Court: ‘My family got the car for me as my 18th birthday present. I was still 17 at the time of the offence and had not actually been given the keys to the car and was not aware that it would be mine.’
Teenage learner drivers were among those given criminal convictions (Picture: Getty)
Both her and her father had reading difficulties and had thought an official letter about the problem said it could be resolved if they made a SORN (Statutary Off Road Notification).
She said: ‘I was a good student in school and college studying art and have never been in any trouble in my life. We just misunderstood the letter, I thought it said I had to SORN it or pay a fine if it doesn’t get sorted. I am very sorry.’
The teen was given a 12-month conditional discharge without a fine, though she still had to pay a £20 court fee, and will also now have a criminal record.
In January, over 500 rail fare prosecutions brought by rail companies under the Single Justice Procedure were declared null and void.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring at Westminster Magistrates’ Court criticised the cases, saying they should not have been brought in the first place.
Rail companies are not allowed to privately prosecute fare evaders under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889.
In one case, 22-year-old graduatre Sam Williamson had been taken to court for using his 16-25 Railcard to book an ‘Anytime Day Single’ ticket on the Northern app, only to find out that his Railcard was not valid for the peak time. He had paid £1.85 less than he should have.
‘Alleviates backlogs and minimises delays’
A document from the Magistrates’ Association says that the Single Justice Procedure ‘deals swiftly with the least serious offences and contributeshugely to the efficiency of the court system. It alleviates backlogs and minimises delays to more serious cases in the magistrates’ courts.’
They said that over three million criminal cases were dealt with in this way between April 2019 and September 2023.
Defendants have the right to choose if they want to go to court. If they did not see a letter informing them of the case, they can also ask for it to be reopened if they do so within 21 days of finding out.
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