Tax rebel faces festive jail term

The pensioner said she hated Christmas and was not worried

Spending Christmas behind bars would be a nightmare prospect for most, but for 75-year-old Devon council tax rebel Sylvia Hardy, it is a real possibility.

Jailed in 2005 for failing to pay her council tax, Ms Hardy will appear in court on Wednesday, when she may be sent to prison again.

She now faces charges for failing to pay a total of £914 accumulated over the past two years.

The retired social worker said she was not worried as she "hated Christmas".

'Don't help me'

She said: "I do not particularly want to go to prison at this time of year, but as I hate Christmas it would not worry me even though it is a horrible experience."

My finances have deteriorated so much and I genuinely find it difficult to meet bills Sylvia Hardy

Ms Hardy, from Exeter, was jailed for a week in 2005 for failing to pay £53.71 in council tax arrears.

But she was released after one night behind bars when the money was paid by a mystery benefactor.

This time, she said she hoped nobody would pay her outstanding tax bill, but realised she could not stop someone from stepping in to help.

She said: "My finances have deteriorated so much and I genuinely find it difficult to meet bills, not just council tax.

"I just have not got the money. I owe £914 and have got £198 in the bank.

"I have now had to draw down on my savings for day-to-day living, and the £3 pension increase we will be getting in April has already been swallowed up.

"My flat is so shabby I am ashamed of it and do not have people to visit any more.

"It is getting to the stage where I am not going to have any quality of life.

"I am not the only one, it is also young people on low incomes."

She said magistrates in Honiton, east Devon, could sentence her to three months behind bars because she was a second time offender and owed more money than she did last time.

She will be represented on Wednesday by a solicitor funded by the Devon Pensioners Action Forum.