Damn thats 2 pensioners in 1 week the government sent to jail over small change

[Don Rizzle]

Prison for tax protest pensioner
A retired social worker from Devon has become the first woman pensioner to be jailed in England for refusing to pay an increase in her council tax.
Sylvia Hardy, 73, from Exeter, was jailed after missing a deadline to settle arrears of £53.71.

She was cheered by supporters when arriving at court, carrying a packed bag in expectation of a jail term.

Magistrates said they had no choice but to send her to jail adding she should not be seen as "a martyr".


 I survived the blitz, so I can survive in prison
Sylvia Hardy 

Before the case she said that if council tax kept rising, pensioners would end up having no quality of life.

"We'll just have to sit at our homes and do nothing. That is not for me."

When told that it would cost tax-payers' more to send her to prison than it would for her to pay, she said: "What we're doing now could save them money in the long-run.

"If we get the government to abolish council tax then it'll be worthwhile.

Shouts of support

"I survived the blitz, so I can survive in prison."

Jailing her for seven days at Exeter Magistrates' Court, chairman of the bench Louis Crowden said: "If everyone paid their debts on the basis of what they thought appropriate this country would descend into anarchy."


 You may think you are a martyr but you are not
Louis Crowden, chairman of the bench 

He told Ms Hardy she had been given every chance to pay her arrears and magistrates had no choice but to jail her.

"You may think you are a martyr but you are not," said the chairman.

As Ms Hardy, from Barrack Road, was led away the chairman of Devon Pensioners' Action Forum, Albert Venison, shouted at the bench: "You are on a completely different planet you people."

There were other shouts of "pompous ass" and "shame" from other supporters of Ms Hardy who were packed into the small courtroom.

'Emily Pankhurst'

One of the protesters outside the court said after her sentencing: "This government doesn't take any notice of the pensioners' rights or protests whatsoever."

The BBC's John Kay said: "One of the pensioners I've talked to described her as the council tax equivalent of Emily Pankhurst or the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

"That is how she is being perceived by people down here, where her plight has been recognised for some time."

Last week, Ms Hardy met retired vicar Alfred Ridley, 71, from Towcester, Northants, after he became the first council tax "rebel" to be jailed.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/devon/4280040.stm

Published: 2005/09/26 10:06:21 GMT