COUNCILl Tax defaulter, David Evans-Clarke, 63, of Spring Vale Mobile Home Park, Sutton Road, Wisbech has been sent to prison for 23 days for failing to comply with a suspended prison sentence imposed by Wisbech Magistrates. Mr Evans-Clarke was jailed fo

COUNCILl Tax defaulter, David Evans-Clarke, 63, of Spring Vale Mobile Home Park, Sutton Road, Wisbech has been sent to prison for 23 days for failing to comply with a suspended prison sentence imposed by Wisbech Magistrates.

Mr Evans-Clarke was jailed for breaching a suspended prison sentence order and failing to pay £1,590 in Council Tax.

In 2006, Mr Evans-Clarke was found guilty of culpable neglect in failing to pay £2,930 in Council Tax. He was sentenced to 42 days imprisonment suspended by payment of £20 each week to repay the debt

Payments were made as ordered until August 2007, and then became erratic, stopping altogether from January 2008. Four reminders were issued by Fenland Council but received no response, so Mr Evans-Clarke was summonsed back to court to explain why he was not making payment as required by the terms of his suspended sentence.

Mr Roger Glaisbrook represented Mr Evans-Clarke said his client had allowed his partner to manage their joint finances. He believed that she was paying the order, and he was not aware of the reminders or of the fact that payments were not being paid.

He stated that she must have intercepted the reminders, and the only correspondence he received was the summons, to which he responded by attending court.

Mr Glaisbrook said that as this had been a debt from when he was living with a previous partner, his current partner had made the decision not to use their current income to pay what she considered to be another person's debt.

He said this was done without the knowledge of Mr Evans-Clarke. This revelation caused their relationship to end, and she was in the process of moving out. Their joint income was £153 a week after housing costs, and on his own Mr Evans-Clarke was expected to receive £119 a week in pension credits. He expressed a willingness to pay a reduced weekly amount.

The magistrates considered his mitigation but felt that he had neglected to take responsibility for the matter himself, and therefore they held him as responsible for the payments not being made. He was sent to prison for 23 days.