Penalty notice for disorder

The documentation may be a scam.

In the first instance, we advise that you contact HM Courts & Tribunal Services to clarify this, you can use the Court & Tribunal Finder facility via the link in Related Information to do this.

If the letter isn't genuine, report it to Action Fraud (see link in Related Information).

Alternatively, if the letter appears to be from the police referring you to HM Courts & Tribunal Services, then contact your local police to check its authenticity via the link below:

A Penalty Notice for Disorder is a type of fixed penalty notice that is available in England and Wales for a specified range of penalty offences.  They are a simple and swift way for officers to deal with low level, anti-social and nuisance behaviour, such as littering, wasting police time, and being drunk and disorderly.

Once the notice has been issued the person must either pay the amount shown or request a hearing within 21 days, details of which are shown on the back of the notice.

The notices are intended to free up police officers' time from dealing with such behaviour (i.e. preparing statements and appearing at court). The officer will either give the offender a notice at the scene of the incident or in some cases when they are in custody; it is still a more efficient method of dealing with the offender than charging them. It can even be given weeks after the event if the circumstances are appropriate.

The notices can only be given if the offender agrees to have the matter dealt with in this way. Once they have agreed, a fine of £60 or £90, depending on the tier of offence (please see the link in Related Information), will be issued. The incentive for the alleged offender to 'pay-up' is that no criminal conviction or admission of guilt is associated with payment of the penalty. If the offender fails to pay the PND, then the fine will be increased and eventually a warrant will be issued.

If the offender refuses the PND, then the case will proceed as normal to the courts. If found guilty, however, this will be recorded as a criminal conviction.

No, by agreeing to have a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) and paying the fine you will not receive a criminal conviction. Accepting and paying the fine is not an admission of guilt but discharges the possibility of the creation of a criminal record.

The fact that you have been given a PND will be recorded on the Police National Computer, but it will not create a criminal record. The information is recorded for administrative purposes and to establish if a person has had more than one PND.

If a criminal records check is carried out it does not automatically mean that the PND would be disclosed. However, it could be referred to if the behaviour that led to the PND was linked with the reason for the check.