Gypsy asks for court fine discount if he pays in cash - Staffordshire

From the Sentinel

A CHEEKY gypsy convicted of illegally poaching rabbits asked a magistrate for a discount on his court fine - if he paid in cash.

Thrifty John Price - who was caught with two dead rabbits and a hare - tried to cut a deal with the court after being handed a £100 fine and £25 victim surcharge.

The 27-year-old asked Tony Jarvis, chair of the bench at Stroud Magistrates Court: “If I could pay today could you do it a bit cheaper? It's still a little bit expensive.”

When Mr Jarvis explained that he “does not do bargaining and negotiations”, Price persisted: "Can you do £100 today?

“Forget about the £25? How about that? Will you take £100 as cash?”

Mr Jarvis declined and told Price and co-accused Thomas Levi Rogers that the financial penalty must be paid in full.

Price, of Adams Avenue, Tunstall, and Rogers, of Hospital Lane, Cannock, both admitted trespassing on land at night and taking or destroying rabbits, after they were spotted with lurchers and torches at Oxleys Farm, in Deerhurst near Tewkesbury on February 20.

Rogers told the hearing on Monday that he only wanted to "kill some rabbits, make a fire and cook up with a few beers" and he did not know he was breaking the law.