Man, 74, jailed over council tax

George Frost, 74, had failed to pay arrears from 2001 to 2003

The daughter of an elderly man jailed for 23 days for unpaid council tax has said she is desperately worried.

Retired seaman George Frost, 74, of Beaufoy Road, in Dover, Kent, was sent to prison by magistrates for failing to pay £991.41 in arrears.

He was given a suspended committal order last August to pay the arrears from 2001 to 2003. Magistrates ruled on Monday he had wilfully refused to pay.

Nicky McCann said he could not afford it and she was worried for his health.

75th birthday in jail

"He has heart problems and pains in the leg," she said.

"I'm worried about people he's in prison with. I don't want him to get bullied or anything like that."

He's just a silly old man who gets confused and muddled Nicky McCann

The 59-year-old playground supervisor at a Dover primary school said none of her family had known about his court appearance, and it had come as a shock when the court contacted the family.

"He wouldn't wilfully refuse to pay - he can't afford it. He's moaned to me before about the cost of things," Mrs McCann said.

"There's no way we could pay that money - we just haven't got it," she added.

She said: "I knew he had been to court once before. He got behind with the council tax. That was a long time ago and I assumed everything was okay."

'Pride and embarrassment'

Mrs McCann said her father, who used to work at Dover Docks, was now due to spend his 75th birthday next month in Elmley Prison, on the Isle of Sheppey.

She said: "He's just a silly old man who gets confused and muddled with age.

"He's never been a criminal.

"I'm sure if there was some other way they could have sorted it out."

She said her father probably did not tell the rest of the family about his situation because of "pride and embarrassment".

A Dover Council spokesman said the authority worked with individuals before a case went to court, and action included visits, welfare advice and working with the Citizens Advice Bureau, while benefits were widely publicised.

He said the council would only contact the family at the request of, and with the agreement of, an individual.

And he said the council's duty was to take recovery action in the interests of the community, while the issue of sentencing at this final stage had been a matter for the magistrates.