I was awarded £580 in compensation for damages that occurred when one of my motorbikes was stolen last year. One of the people responsible was caught, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay compensation to both me and the Met Police.

Approximately 9 months on from that date, I’ve been repaid a total of £68.02. In the last 7 months, that total is £3.58. IE £65 in the first 2 months, £3 in the last 7.

Apparently the defendant has repaid a total of £95 in that time, so the Met Police have collected £26.98. The payments are being split about 70/30 in my favour I believe.

As I understand it, the defendant was having £20 taken out of his benefits per month, but presumably that stopped at the end of 2013 (when the payments stopped) and since then, has only voluntarily paid £5 towards the compensation due. He is due to go back on benefits from next month, so I’ll start getting my £14 a month again.

Overall, my feeling is that there has to be a better way to manage this. Or, is this just a symptom of a greater problem? A general lack of responsibility that people feel towards each other and society.

Without knowing his exact circumstances, it’s easy to feel that he’s getting a free ride. He’s getting free money, paid for by the rest of the country, of which a very small amount is being taken away, to help compensate for the damage he’s done to said society. On the flip side, perhaps he’s in a difficult position and £20 a month makes a lot of difference to his situation.

Overall, my feeling is that we need to help people learn to be responsible again, for their lives, their actions, the consequences of those actions, and society at large.