Jail term for ex-vicar over refusal to pay council tax

A retired vicar, who had arrived at court brandishing his toothbrush in preparation for prison, was yesterday sentenced to 28 days for refusing to pay the increase in his council tax.

Alfred Ridley, 71, of Towcester, Northants, is believed to be the first pensioner sent to jail this year because of support for a protest campaign highlighting steep rises in bills from local authority.

In July, Mr Ridley was given a suspended sentence for declining to repay the £691 he owed in arrears and costs.

Yesterday he refused again to comply with the order and the magistrate, John Woollett, told him: "We have been very patient with you. We have tried to encourage you to pay this money. As you have failed to pay, we have no alternative to enforce the suspended prison sentence."

Mr Ridley's local council tax bill rose by 8.5% last year but he declined to pay the full sum. He followed advice from a campaign opposing council tax increases, called IsItFair, and paid the previous year's bill plus 2.5% extra to cover inflation. That left him £63 in arrears. The additional charges were incurred through court and bailiffs' costs.

Mr Ridley told the court yesterday: "I am saying that I am not going to pay an illegal council tax demand. No one should pay an illegal council tax demand."

He had arrived at Towcester magistrates' court insisting he was prepared to go to prison and carrying a toothbrush in readiness for his prison sentence. "This is all I'm allowed to take with me," he said as he entered the building accompanied by wife, Una, and son, Joel.

"I am all for paying my rates for the services I have had," he added. "But they have got to be reasonable and they don't need to rise 76% in 10 years. The whole council tax system must be reformed. If you don't stick your neck out no one is going to take a blind bit of notice."

Mr Ridley said he was only the first of many people prepared to go to court over what he calls the unfair tax.

Earlier this year, Sylvia Hardy, 73, a former social worker from Exeter, was sentenced to a week in jail but she has been allowed more time to pay.

Around 20 members of the IsItFair campaign group, which wants council tax scrapped, gathered outside court to support Mr Ridley.

The group's leader, Christine Melsom, said: "It is Mr Ridley's choice that he is doing this, and we are very pleased he has taken this stance."

Support for Mr Ridley also came from the charity Help the Aged. "Council tax in its present form is deeply unfair and regressive," said a spokesperson, Adrian Thomas. "It punishes older people who have worked their whole lives and who have been able to save or buy their own home.

"Older people are asking why they continue to receive such astronomically high bills when essential local services increasingly fall victim to budget cuts."

A spokesman for the Peterborough diocese, Derek Williams, said: "Mr Ridley's campaign has been a personal one. While we cannot condone law breaking of any kind, his campaign highlights a serious problem faced by many people on low fixed incomes."

Following the hearing, Mr Ridley's son Joel, 35, said he believed his father would cope in jail.

"He is pretty fit and good with people, and I think he will cope okay.

"He is passionate about what he is doing and it is not just him. He realises many elderly people face the same predicament and we are all proud of the stance he has taken."