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Brits flee Norway leaving fines unpaid

British law-breakers owe the Norwegian state more in unpaid fines than those from France, Italy, Spain and Ireland put together, new figures from the country's state collection agency have shown.

Published: 3 September 2013 08:36 CEST

Brits flee Norway leaving fines unpaid

Norwegian traffic cop stopping speeding vehicles - Solum, Stian Lysberg / NTB Scanpix

With 11.4 million kroner in unpaid fines, British people are ahead of Germans, with 8.5 million, and even people from Norway's neighbour Denmark, who owe 7.5 million.

With the exception of the Swedes and the Danes, Norway is powerless to pursue foreigners who leave the country with outstanding penalties for offences committed on Norwegian soil, meaning many Europeans choose to simply leave the country.

"I think they're laughing at us," Oslo's mayor Fabian Stang told TV 2. "I think they say that here in Norway you are free to do whatever you want without any consequences."

The Poles are the worse offenders, owing Norway 38.5 million in unpaid fines, followed by Lithuanians, with 22.7 million in unpaid fines, Swedes with 22.3 million, and Romanians with 14 million.

Country of origin Total unpaid fines (million kroner)

Poland 38.5

Lithuania 22.7

Sweden 22.3

Romania 14.0

UK 11.4

Germany 8.5

Denmark 7.5

Netherlands 3.8

Spain 3.6

Italy 3.4

France 2.5

Ireland 0.3

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Norwegian police charge Olympic champion's father for domestic violence

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and two of his brothers, Henrik and Filip, who are also athletes, shocked Norway last October when they accused their father of being violent.

“We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” the brothers wrote in an op-ed for newspaper VG. “We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood,” they added.

Police opened a probe into the abuse claims and on Monday said prosecutors had decided to charge Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 58, with domestic violence against one of his children.

According to a source close to the case, the acts in question do not concern the trio of known athletes but another, younger child.

Over a period of four years, from 2018 to 2022, Gjert Ingebrigtsen allegedly manhandled, insulted, threatened and hit the child in the face with his hand or with a towel.

Responding to questions from AFP, Therese Braut Vage, who led the investigation, would not confirm this account.

Police said they had closed investigations into other events concerning the six other children in the home either due to a lack of evidence or, in one case, because the statute of limitations having expired.

Gjert, who coached Jakob until after the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo — where Jakob won the gold — has always denied the accusations against him.

“As far as the dismissed cases, we agree that there is no evidence to prove that Ingebrigtsen committed any wrongdoing,” his lawyer John Christian Elden told AFP on Monday.

“For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the indictment is based — and he therefore does not admit his guilt,” he continued in an email.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful of the three brothers, twice winning gold in the world championships 5000m in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Olympic 1500m gold.

The 23-year-old is also preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

Henrik, 33, and Filip, 31, were European champions in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

After breaking with his sons, Gjert Ingebrigtsen shocked Norwegian athletics by becoming the trainer of another runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee has said that Gjert will not be granted accreditation for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, as was the case at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

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