Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A single mother who suffered with depression was “unlawfully” sent to jail after she was unable to pay her council tax debt.

Melanie Woolcock, from Porthcawl , was sentenced to 81 days in prison after falling behind on her council tax payments when she became unemployed from her part-time job in a sports shop.

After being sentenced at Bridgend Magistrates’ Court she spent 40 days in jail before she was released on bail.

But on Wednesday, the High Court ruled her committal to prison was unlawful and that magistrates had failed to asses her financial means and had no basis for concluding her failure to pay was because of culpable neglect.

Ms Woolcock, who lived with her 17-year-old son, failed to make council tax payments of £10 a week - which amounted to a total of around £4,700.

She prioritised paying rent, bills and food

In a court statement she explained she had struggled to make the payments because she prioritised paying rent, gas, electric and buying food.

A handwritten note from a court hearing states she “suffered with depression”, was a “single parent with very limited means” and was “not well enough to work”.

She did make payments of £10 a week - £5 for each of the two properties she occupied, in Precinct Rest Bay and Seagull Close in Porthcawl - for some months but then fell behind.

In August last year she paid £100 towards the outstanding debt but bailiffs explained the payment was “too late” as the warrant for committal had already been issued.

She was arrested at her home and had to phone her mother to ask her to look after her son before she was taken to Eastwood prison.

She served 40 days behind bars before she was finally released on bail.

Around 100 people are jailed every year for not paying council tax

The Centre for Criminal Appeals is now preparing a judicial review of the system, which sees people committed to prison for not paying their council tax.

Each year around 100 people are imprisoned for not paying their council tax, according to figures supplied by the Ministry of Justice.

And research by the Centre for Criminal Appeals shows almost all cases have been found to be unlawful when reviewed by the High Court.

Helen Ball, a volunteer researcher at the Centre, has identified and reviewed 145 cases since 1980 where a person’s committal to prison for non-payment of dues such as fines, council tax and the community charge has been ruled unlawful in the High Court.

She said: “In these cases, magistrates have often incorrectly concluded that there’s been culpable neglect or a wilful refusal to pay. Moreover, magistrates have regularly failed to properly assess a person’s ability to pay and to consider reasonable alternatives to prison.”

Suzanne Gower, Managing Director of the Centre, added: “I’m pleased that the High Court has ruled that sending this single mother to prison because of her inability to pay council tax was unlawful. It is truly shocking that in the 21st Century over 100 vulnerable people are being imprisoned each year for being poor.

“I hope the Government will work with us to put an end to similar cases. The current system is Dickensian and benefits no one.”