Fine, not fine

The British government was cracking down on anti-social behavior in England and Wales to make neighborhoods safe.

The campaign, dubbed “Respect Orders,” fined adults who fed birds in parks, drank in the streets, swore, littered, busked, preached and failed to pick up after their dogs, starting 26 October, the Daily Mail reported.

Police officers and local councils were the designated enforcers who could directly fine or prosecute violators.

Any violation was considered a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in jail, according to the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, a British motorist was ordered by a court in Cornwall to pay £2,270 in fines stemming from his rejection of an illegal parking ticket in November last year.

Stephen Lang, 58, parked his vehicle outside a marked bay at Exchequer Quay car park in Penryn, and a police officer issued him a ticket, Yahoo News reported.

Lang vehemently protested the ticket, and when the officer did not budge, he took the notice off his car and dropped it on the ground, according to the report.

The officer picked up the penalty notice and slid it back under the wiper, but Lang removed it once more, scrunched it into a ball and flung it in her direction, according to Yahoo News.

The officer, who had a body-worn camera that captured the confrontation, fined him £250 for littering.

Lang, however, ignored the fine and did not pay, so the local council took the matter to Truro Magistrates’ Court, Yahoo News reported. He snubbed the hearing on 14 October, and the judge found him guilty in absentia.

With the ruling, Lang not only had to pay the £250 littering fine but also the £1,920 in litigation costs and a £100 victim surcharge, bringing the total bill to £2,270.