Quatloos!

Oh dear. someone is in for a shock and the advice is not helping either

I have to admire their efficiency. So many wrong tactics in so few replies.

I fear somebody is about to learn a very, very unhappy lesson but the question is at what point, if ever, will they realise that taking legal advice from the internet when you're facing jail is a monumentally stupid idea.

longdog wrote:I fear somebody is about to learn a very, very unhappy lesson but the question is at what point, if ever, will they realise that taking legal advice from the internet when you're facing jail is a monumentally stupid idea.

But when the advice you've been given by your MP and councillor to pay up or end up in prison isn't what you want to hear, you'll go hunting round for someone who'll reinforce your own world view. A world view that will shortly be narrowed down to a cell, from the sound of it.

Adam Brown likes a double negative.

I wouldn't pay nothing

Which means he would pay something.

They can't do nothing

Which means they must do something.

I wouldn't loose no sleep over this

I guess "loose" is "lose" which would mean he would lose some sleep over this.
He must be a paid government shill

rumpelstilzchen wrote:Adam Brown likes a double negative.

I wouldn't pay nothing

Which means he would pay something.

They can't do nothing

Which means they must do something.

I wouldn't loose no sleep over this

I guess "loose" is "lose" which would mean he would lose some sleep over this.
He must be a paid government shill

Thought the same thing... So he obviously would pay something and probably all to stay a free man

Hendrix led the way in 1967 with Foxy Lady;

I want to take you home, haha yeah
I won't do you no harm no, ha
You got to be all mine, all mine
Ooh foxey lady, yeah
Foxey, foxey

Or was that a triple negative?

Excellent, hopefully she'll be jailed tomorrow and the armchair inciters can work out between them who's fault that is.

And the bad advice keeps coming

So what happens when the magistrate says "No this is not an offer to contract" ?

Well that's it. I'm convinced! Some guy told me on fb it's ok, so it must be

notorial dissent wrote:The stupid here is just staggering. Obviously the whole getting your ass slammed in jail for contempt of court thing has eluded them, or else they're like stupid old Baron Boring who thinks that the judge can't throw then in jail for contempt. They really don't have any understanding or clue about how civil court works. I don't think Gail is going to have a happy experience in court.

You have to be very careful about the specifics of Council Tax laws as it is one (if not the only) "civil" type offence where you can be jailed, without invoking contempt rules.
As has already been said, there is so much bad advice in those posts this isn't going to end well. Given they, apparently deliberately, haven't paid for 3 or 4 years, I think they certainly in the area of being considered for a jail sentence.

ArthurWankspittle wrote:You have to be very careful about the specifics of Council Tax laws as it is one (if not the only) "civil" type offence where you can be jailed, without invoking contempt rules.

To expand on this, you can only (I think) be jailed for wilful refusal to pay - this isn't being thrown in debtors prison because you can't pay. Entertainingly, you can (I think, again) get an exemption for council tax on your home while you're in prison, but not if you're in there for wilful refusal to pay council tax.

The phrase in CT(A&E)R 1992 is "wilful refusal or culpable neglect". It could be up to three months, but is likely to be 28 days postponed to give her a final chance to pay. If she gets jail, she'll still have to pay.

Like everyone else, if she can't pay, she won't be jailed, and is stupid to have let it get this far.

So far, Gail isn't showing contempt of court (merely of the council), though others are encouraging her down that path.

Council tax is one of the first bills people get behind with but it is also the easiest to sort out. They will accept a payment plan even if it will take a few years to pay off. If she turns up at court and point blank refuses to pay she could be sent down for a few weeks. It is a last resort though as things like dependents and losing your job is taken into consideration. I also take it that she does not own her home because with 4 years not paying I am sure they would go down the bankruptcy route.

littleFred wrote:The phrase in CT(A&E)R 1992 is "wilful refusal or culpable neglect".

Does membership in a Facebook group called "Council Tax My Arse" qualify as "willful refusal?"