A North Somerset man has been sentenced to 40 days imprisonment
after failing to pay his council tax arrears.
Dale Barlow (aged 41) of Millennium Mews, Congresbury, first
appeared at North Somerset Court House in March 2009, where he was
found to have committed 'culpable neglect'.
Committal proceedings began after Mr Barlow had consistently not
paid his council tax despite North Somerset Council making numerous
attempts to recover the debts. Bailiffs attempted to make contact
with him on several occasions and visited his home a number of
times, without success.
North Somerset magistrates had previously made 'liability
orders' for unpaid council tax.
At that initial court hearing, Mr Barlow was found guilty of
'culpable neglect' and sentenced to 90 days in prison. The sentence
was suspended on the provision that Mr Barlow made payments of
£150.00 per month.
Failure to pay in accordance with the suspended sentence
resulted in Mr Barlow being brought before the court again in
December 2009. During this hearing magistrates decided not to
activate the suspended sentence and Mr Barlow was granted a further
opportunity to pay the arrears on a monthly basis and a review
hearing was scheduled for March 3 2010.
During the hearing on March 3 2010, despite payments not being
maintained, a material change in circumstances was accepted by the
magistrates and they provided Mr Barlow a final opportunity to make
payments at the reduced rate of £100.00 per month. The custodial
sentence was also reduced to 42 days.
While a payment was made at that hearing, Mr Barlow failed to
maintain payments magistrates activated the suspended committal
sentence in a subsequent hearing on May 27 2010.
Consideration was given to the payment he had made, which reduced
the custodial sentence to 40 days.
Executive member for finance, Cllr Tony Lake, said: "We have a
duty to collect as much council tax as we can. This man has
consistently failed to pay his dues and we have had no option but
to bring him to court on several occasions. He has failed to abide
by court decisions and having run out of options magistrates have
sent him to prison.
"If anyone is experiencing difficulties in paying council tax
they should make early contact with us. We will continue to offer
help to those who can't pay and take action against those who won't
pay."
