Ant McPartlin fined £86,000.

[greyman42]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43786771

TV presenter Ant McPartlin has been fined £86,000 and given a 20-month driving ban after pleading guilty to drink driving.

Speaking outside Wimbledon Magistrates' Court, he said: "I let myself down, I let a lot of people down. For that I'm truly sorry."

He also said he was "thankful no-one was hurt" in the three-car collision in Richmond, London, on 18 March.

The court heard he had been more than twice the drink drive limit.

In a letter read out in court, McPartlin also said he was "ashamed and mortified" and "accepts full responsibility" for what happened....

This seems an excessive fine and not at all in line as to Wayne Rooney's punishment for the same drink driving offence.

 

[Darandio]

It wasn't the same. Rooney didn't come careering round a corner and hit one car before ploughing head on into another.

 

[trainmania100]

Should be good for the local economy
Rules for drinking and driving are already blindingly clear, it's just stupidity and someone could have been killed

 

[greyman42]

It wasn't the same. Rooney didn't come careering round a corner and hit one car before ploughing head on into another.

Fair point but it still seems excessive.

 

[greyman42]

Should be good for the local economy
Rules for drinking and driving are already blindingly clear, it's just stupidity and someone could have been killed

Agreed and that applies to everyone, famous or not.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Agreed and that applies to everyone, famous or not.

Agreed. Famous people shouldn’t be able to break laws but...

They shouldn’t be charged more than normals either. Surely they don’t charge that much normally? If so... cor.

 

[trainmania100]

Agreed and that applies to everyone, famous or not.

His weekly wages are over £100,000
My weekly wages are not even 1/100th of that. Fines aren't just a slap on the wrist, they need to incur an influence for the person not to commit the crime again

 

[greyman42]

His weekly wages are over £100,000
My weekly wages are not even 1/100th of that. Fines aren't just a slap on the wrist, they need to incur an influence for the person not to commit the crime again

Well it did not with Wayne Rooney.

 

[richw]

Are fines not a percentage of earnings?

 

[Darandio]

Are fines not a percentage of earnings?

I always assumed so. If that is the case, why was Rooney fined £170 for being three times over the limit?

 

[tony_mac]

He wasn't - he was ordered to do unpaid work instead of being fined

 

[theblackwatch]

Agreed. Famous people shouldn’t be able to break laws but...

They shouldn’t be charged more than normals either. Surely they don’t charge that much normally? If so... cor.

Any fine has to have an effect on the person in my view. Given that his wage is £100,000 week according to another poster on here, this probably links quite well with the fine one of my parents neighbours was given for drink driving a couple of years back which was £250, with £85 costs and a £25 'victim surcharge'. Mind you, he wasn't involved in an accident fortunately. If Ant McPartlin had only been fined that, I doubt he would have even noticed it disappear from his bank account.

One of PJ's (anyone else remember him as that name!?) other "punishment's" is clearly the damage to his reputation.

 

[infobleep]

Should be good for the local economy
Rules for drinking and driving are already blindingly clear, it's just stupidity and someone could have been killed

The other people wete indeed lucky snd I do wonder what saved them in this case?

 

[infobleep]

Any fine has to have an effect on the person in my view. Given that his wage is £100,000 week according to another poster on here, this probably links quite well with the fine one of my parents neighbours was given for drink driving a couple of years back which was £250, with £85 costs and a £25 'victim surcharge'. Mind you, he wasn't involved in an accident fortunately. If Ant McPartlin had only been fined that, I doubt he would have even noticed it disappear from his bank account.

One of PJ's (anyone else remember him as that name!?) other "punishment's" is clearly the damage to his reputation.

I wonder if the £86,000 includes the costs and victim surcharge or will those be extra?

 

[infobleep]

He wasn't - he was ordered to do unpaid work instead of being fined

I assume Ant's case was too serious to make him do unpaid work, so he was fined instead.

 

[tony_mac]

The unpaid work is actually the more serious penalty.

 

[richw]

Ants Salary is 140k according to report I’ve just read.
The alcohol level quoted gives a band B fine.

FINE BAND B
Starting Point: 100% of relevant weekly income
Range: 75% - 125% of relevant weekly income

Relevant weekly income is after tax. So I guess that’s around 100% after tax

 

[johntea]

Financially he has this fine to pay off, his divorce and at least a year of TV earnings (plus the associated sponsorship deals) but let’s face it even after all that he’s still more than comfortably set up for life even if he never returns to TV (which would be a shame although Dec is doing a sterling job solo).

He was an idiot but he just needs to stick to rehab now for as long as he needs, I think he rushed it the first time so that he was back in time for I’m A Celebrity, still didn’t look quite himself on his return which is understandable when addicted to painkiller drugs, alcohol and a marriage collapse - then having to put on a happy face for the TV shows!

 

[adamskiodp]

Ants Salary is 140k according to report I’ve just read.
The alcohol level quoted gives a band B fine.



Relevant weekly income is after tax. So I guess that’s around 100% after tax

What would be the fine if no income? Say living at home with parents and not claiming any benefits?

 

[trainmania100]

I wonder if the £86,000 includes the costs and victim surcharge or will those be extra?

I read that those are extra, the prosecution fees are extra too

 

[Starmill]

BBC News says this:

District Judge Barbara Barnes described McPartlin as a "well-known and successful entertainer", taking his weekly income of about £130,000 into consideration when calculating the fine.

This results, I think, in about £133 in Basic Rate tax, about £890 on Higher Rate tax, and about £57,000 in Additional Rate tax. I don't know what to assume for National Insurance - about £2,500 ish? So a total bill for both taxes of around £60,000 and net pay of approximately £70,000 a week, or £3.6 million a year? Perhaps he has some relevant deductions or something too, but either way it does seem that he has been fined about 1 weeks income.

 

[Amateurish]

It will be 100% of his weekly wage with a third off for the guilty plea.

 

[Starmill]

Should be good for the local economy

Aren't any fines issued by courts paid to the Treasury?

 

[Crossover]

I don't know what to assume for National Insurance - about £2,500 ish?

It's 12% of earnings over, I think, £157 a week

 

[bearhugger]

Financially he has this fine to pay off, his divorce and at least a year of TV earnings (plus the associated sponsorship deals) but let’s face it even after all that he’s still more than comfortably set up for life even if he never returns to TV (which would be a shame although Dec is doing a sterling job solo).

He was an idiot but he just needs to stick to rehab now for as long as he needs, I think he rushed it the first time so that he was back in time for I’m A Celebrity, still didn’t look quite himself on his return which is understandable when addicted to painkiller drugs, alcohol and a marriage collapse - then having to put on a happy face for the TV shows!

This I agree with. He needs some time to get himself some help. As someone who has been involved in a fatal traffic accident and totally cleared by the subsequent police & coroners investigation as I had done everything I possibly could have to avoid being in that situation, it would have been hell for me if i had done something like being under the influence or driving dangerously or without due care & attention.

 

[Busaholic]

I believe the scale being used by which the fine was calculated is one of two thirds of average weekly earnings.
By the way, who is Ant McParlin? Was he in Adam and the Ants?

 

[richw]

What would be the fine if no income? Say living at home with parents and not claiming any benefits?

I believe there is a base figure.
If you don’t supply an income and expenditure declaration to the court they use an assumed figure.

 

[robbeech]

BBC News says this:


This results, I think, in about £133 in Basic Rate tax, about £890 on Higher Rate tax, and about £57,000 in Additional Rate tax. I don't know what to assume for National Insurance - about £2,500 ish? So a total bill for both taxes of around £60,000 and net pay of approximately £70,000 a week, or £3.6 million a year? Perhaps he has some relevant deductions or something too, but either way it does seem that he has been fined about 1 weeks income.

And then they say that the "rich" get away with things and its the "poor" that have to pay 'the tax'

 

[tony_mac]

I believe there is a base figure.

£120 p/w

If you don’t supply an income and expenditure declaration to the court they use an assumed figure.

£440 p/w - and "where there is some information that tends to suggest a significantly lower or higher income than the recommended £440 default sum, the court should make a determination based on that information"
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.u...nes-2/3-definition-of-relevant-weekly-income/

 

[45rpm]

The punishment should fit the crime. Yes,he deserves to be banned & fined but that fine seems excessive. It`s like saying that becaus he`s a high-earning celebrity that when he shops at Tesco he should pay more than a customer on the minimum wage. Punish him by all means but punish him fairly.