Whats amused you (in the news) today ?

So he can afford £52 a day for nursery fees, but not the £257 fine?

Any prison sentence will not be for not paying. It'll be for contempt of court.

If it was a one off, a prison sentence is very harsh, if he's been doing this a lot and then won't/cant pay the fine you have to do something or everyone reckons they can get away with it and even if you get caught there is no real enforceable penalty.

I felt a bit sorry for him .Maybe a benefactor will come forward and pay his fine . It all sounded a bit draconian. Avoiding paying fare was endemic when I was a youngster.
School children had half passes and I remember being slung off a bus because I forgot mine . I was on my way to my Maths GCE and ran a mile in 12 mins to get there on time.

But punishable by prison ?

This is in a country where I could go and smash a random person the face and almost certainly not face prison as long as the person recovered.

How can you compare the two crimes? One of "disrespect" for a system and another of animal violence? that the system has been set up to deal witrh?

Woah, hold on a moment...

www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/contempt-court-reporting-restrictions-and-restrictions-public-access-hearings
"Section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 provides for a maximum period of committal of 2 years in the Crown Court.
...
The maximum penalty the magistrates’ court can impose is one month’s imprisonment or a fine up to £2,500."

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/outlines/assault/
"Common assault is when a person inflicts violence on someone else or makes them think they are going to be attacked. It does not have to involve physical violence. Threatening words or a raised fist is enough for the crime to have been committed provided the victim thinks that they are about to be attacked. Spitting at someone is another example.

Actual bodily harm (ABH) means the assault has caused some hurt or injury to the victim. Physical injury does not need to be serious or permanent but must be more than “trifling” or “transient”, which means it must at least cause minor injuries or pain or discomfort. Psychological harm can also be covered by this offence, but this must be more than just fear or anxiety.

Grievous bodily harm (GBH) means the assault has caused serious physical harm. It does not have to be permanent or dangerous. For example, a broken bone would amount to GBH – in some cases a broken bone might lead to permanent disability but, in others, it might heal without leaving any long-term effects. GBH can also include psychiatric injury or someone passing on an infection, for example through sexual activity.
...
Common assault:
the maximum sentence is six months’ custody
if the assault is against an emergency worker, the maximum sentence is one year’s custody
if the assault is racially or religiously aggravated, the maximum sentence is two years’ custody

Actual bodily harm:
the maximum sentence is five years’ custody
if the assault is racially or religiously aggravated, the maximum sentence is seven years’ custody

Grievous bodily harm or wounding:
the maximum sentence is five years’ custody.
if the assault is racially or religiously aggravated, the maximum sentence is seven years’ custody
if the assault was committed with intent to cause GBH/wounding then the maximum sentence is life imprisonment"

"Smashing somebody in the face" would be ABH, at the very least. GBH if their nose was broken - yes, even if they recovered. If the person was indeed random, that's an aggravating factor which will increase the sentence. 
Contempt of court is on top of the sentence for the original crime.

If the penalty for disrespecting the judicial system is lighter than that for the original crime, then the judicial system carries no weight. See also perverting the course of justice...

Somebody is massively unlikely to actually "go to prison" for this kind of contempt - they're more likely to simply get a night or two in the police station or court holding cells until they realise the stupidity of their actions.
What's the point of merely fining them, if the contempt is a refusal to pay a fine?

The only time they're going to get a serious sentence is if they continually refuse to engage in the judicial system. Take a high-profile recent person in serial contempt... Tummy Yacketty-Lenin-Rubbinson.

2017 - given suspended sentence for contempt for breaching reporting ban over a case - www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/far-right-activist-spared-jail-126340/
2018 - jailed for contempt for breaching reporting ban over a case - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/29/edl-founder-tommy-robinson-jailed-13-months
2019 - jailed for contempt for breaching reporting ban over a case - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48950672
This year - awaiting trial for contempt after refusing to attend high court to give information on his finances over a libel action he lost - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-61080778

If jail is not an option for contempt, then how does the system deal with slugs like that?