Pensioner jailed over council tax bill

A 75-year-old woman who refused to pay a £360 council tax bill because of a long-running dispute over her garden boundary was yesterday jailed by magistrates.

The decision to imprison Mary Rooney, who had to be dragged handcuffed from court by prison officers, angered local people and campaigners for pensioners' rights.

Ms Rooney, who lives alone in Smethwick, West Midlands, has waged war on Labour-controlled Sandwell council since 1991, when she lost part of her garden in a dispute with neighbours.

Though she has thousands of pounds in savings, she has refused to pay her council tax. Yesterday she told magistrates: "I am not liable to pay tax on stolen property. If I did pay, I'd be condoning crime in Sandwell."

Miss Rooney was given a 21-day suspended sentence in January after being found "culpably negligent" of not paying her council tax and in the course of three subsequent hearings was ordered to pay £5 a week.

Ian Buckingham, representing Sandwell council, said: "This is the fifth hearing in relation to this particular debt. She has said she will not pay - the reasons are irrelevant."

Magistrates pleaded with Miss Rooney to take free legal advice from the duty solicitor but she refused. She insisted that her refusal to pay the council tax was "part and parcel" of the dispute over her land.

In 1994 she had asked for her house to be placed in a lower band because of the loss of part of her garden. The valuer had refused. Consequently, she paid only part of her council tax bill.

Yesterday, the chairman of the bench said: "In a democratic society, we have a duty to ensure payment of council tax so that appropriate services can be provided." The court was told Miss Rooney was liable for £516.70 in council tax and court costs.

She was believed to be spending last night at Brockhill prison, near Redditch in Worcestershire.

A senior Sandwell councillor, Darren Cooper, branded the jail sentence an "absolute disgrace" and called for the Warley MP, John Spellar, to intervene .

But the Sandwell cabinet member for finance and resources, cllr Richard Young, said: "Obviously, nobody here wants to see an elderly woman in this situation and I would rather see her pay than make applications to send her to prison, but she was given every opportunity.

"We are not the villains - if everyone did this then nobody, including elderly people, would get their bins emptied or meals on wheels."

Mike Allen, the chief executive of Sandwell Age Concern, said:"This is not helpful to the problems old people may be facing."