Pensioner jailed for refusing to pay fine

A pensioner from Wolverhampton has been jailed after refusing to pay a penny of a £6,000 court bill out of "principle".

Stan Long ignored warnings from city magistrates that he would be locked up if he did not provide details of his income.

The defiant 73-year-old told them: "You'll have to jail me then. I don't agree with the fine."

He was brought to the dock from cells at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court yesterday after being arrested over the £6,077.50 he owes.

The court heard Long, aged 73, had been ordered to pay almost £4,000 in fines and costs after being convicted of fly-tipping in January last year. Long, of Paget Road, off Tettenhall Road, launched an appeal but was defeated at the city's crown court — and then told to pay a further £2,050.

He had also failed to pay a fixed penalty notice of around £200 for driving an unfit vehicle on the road, the magistrates heard.

Asked how he intended to pay, Long told the bench: "I'm a pensioner. I live a very simple life." But when pressed for further information about his income he replied: "I don't want to tell you that.

"I don't agree with the case, I don't agree with the fine. I'm not guilty of the fly-tipping charge — the council were arrogant and defiant. It was my private property. I can't pay in principle."

Before retiring to consider his sentence magistrates chairman Mr Chris Adams told Long: "This is your last chance."But Long replied: "It's the principle."

Jailing him for 45 days, Mr Adams said: "We have imposed this sentence because you wilfully refused to pay."

But he added: "Pay it at any stage and you will be able to get out of prison."

The prison term is in lieu of a fine after Long was convicted of two offences of dumping and handling waste in January last year.

He had denied both offences, which related to plastic sheets and other items which he fly-tipped in the garden of a home he owned but rented out in Nine Elms Lane, Park Village, Wolverhampton.

Magistrates found him guilty of depositing controlled waste without an environmental permit and of handling waste between March 1, 2009, and May 31, 2009.