See that election thing we have every now and then? That's a consultation over council tax rates, that is. You fucking moron.

Aged 76 and in handcuffs: The council tax rebel jailed for refusing to pay £1,483.51

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... rtComments

This seems to suggest he's just some frail, confused old man harshly treated by the system, rather than someone who's completely aware of what he's doing, knew the consequences and yet stubbornly persisted until there was really no other option.



Thanks for that! Hopefully when I start committing crimes, the Mail will sympathetically report that time I really fucked up my ankle, or the details of the operation I had to have last year. Or at least my high cholesterol.

Nice bit of spin here:



Yes, that's because reducing the sentences for violent offenders is supposed to encourage them to change their behaviour. It's totally disingenuous to pretend he's trapped in there, since he can get out at any time by simply reforming his behaviour and paying up, as a later paragraph proves:



So all this stuff about how other criminals can get out early but he can't is complete arse.



No idea why, I thought you guys were supposed to be the TaxPayer's Alliance?

So hes done it before then,quite clearly hes a battly old fool who thinks hes above the law,hiding behind the fact hes once was in the army and thereforte should be let off..if hes so concerned about other pensioners who cant pay perhaps he can pay their bill for them..I hope he does the full stretch plus balifs take away his tv etc to pay his bill...

'In 2006, he served three days of a 32-day sentence before his family, concerned about his health, paid his council tax.


Mr Fitzmaurice, who lives with his wife Rita, 77, in Heacham, Norfolk, owes £1,359 on his 2007-2008 Band D council tax plus £209 bailiff's and court costs. The couple receive £200 a week in pensions. ,'

stop his pension till its paid off....

It's all about money. The only deciding factor in their world is money. Fines, taxes, et al, avoiding them is encouraged by their mentality. Then they moan about my taxpayer's money..then they say castrate all criminals, because their crimes are not about money...and then they say it costs too much to 'keep them', money money money. They're inverted Marxists! (yes i know the stupid nature of that comment, shush, i was being ironic!)

Woo, I get to call Godwin's Law again. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, never forget why we went to war against the Nazis; they made everyone pay their taxes. Evil, evil scum.

Harold's message is particularly insane there, as he appears to have decided that tax is a violation of human rights law. You'd think governments would have closed that loophole before signing off on it since they rely on tax, but I guess they were busy.

Love the irony of all these commentators appealing for a sense of perspective in the way they deal with old council tax rebels on the one hand, and then on the other comparing us to the Third Reich.

The majority of comments revolve around this:



Because, as we all know, there are no muggers and rapists in prison.



He made a reasonably serious council tax error, which when caught, he paid up. The 'paying up' part is key to why he didn't end up in jail.

24 comments and not a single dissenting voice backing the enforcement of the rule of law.

A few simple sums, well one actually:

£200 x 52 = £10,400
- £1359 = £9041
- £209 = £8832 per year spending money

Not exactly poverty stricken. Just pay up like the rest of us do!

More space in the prisons for the real criminals then

If you're only on 200 quid a week, there's absolutely no way that you have to pay full council tax. My bet is that they should only be paying three hundred quid a year.

If the Mail's so bothered why don't they pay it.

Why our Dad won't back down by the family of the 76 year old tax rebel

The Mail are getting some milage out of this old guy. Presumably if I, as a 35 year old, decided not to pay my CT on the principle that it's unfair I would get as much sympathetic coverage when I'm sent to prison?



Why is Sue assuming that every pensioner has worked hard all their lives? Presumably people too lazy to work become pensioners who have contributed nothing?

It really annoys me the way they play the 'war veteran' card as if should excuse all manner of things.

Something about this story doesn't add up.

Yesterday they were talking about his council tax being 1300 quid. Today that figure represents his 'arrears' which could be for more than one year.

Yesterday his pension was 200 quid a week. Today his army pension is £8,406. Also, according to the council in question, "Mr Fitzmaurice does not qualify for council tax benefit", which means his income is substantially more than the figures quoted. A pensioner on 8 and a half thousand a year qualifies for pension credit and, because of that, zero council tax.

In any case, he has deliberately gone to prison to prove a point. Why are the commentors complaining about the magistrates, the court system and the government? He's got exactly what he wanted and expected.

Absolutely disgusting! This man fought for his country and how do they repay him? By throwing him in jail for failure to pay his council tax - money the councils and government should not be allowed to collect from pensioners, these people have spent their lives working and paying taxes, when are they going to stop giving money to immigrants and people too lazy too work? The nanny state needs to take a long hard look at it's morals.

- Sue, Wellington, NZ

I d wager sue is an immigrant herself....

According to the Mail's own figures, he owes £1,359 in council tax. Also according to the Mail, the council tax he has to pay in one year is £1,359.

(According to the council's website, this page, it was £1290.78)

On the Mail's figures he's been refusing to pay it for exactly one year. On the website's figures, it's about 13 months. In any case he is well aware of his non-payment and I think he's deliberately two-fingering the council. For that, the punishment is hardly unjustified.
I would also venture a guess that the council have tried to work with him over this. Even the slowest of councils can deal with a couple of appeals a year and chase up unpaid bills. So again, jail is hardly unjustified.

He claims (or more specifically, it is claimed in the Mail) he can't afford the whole bill. Okay even if that's true surely he can afford some of it as a gesture of willingness. Unfortunately the Mail is too busy telling us how much of an angel he is and how the King's Lynn Borough Council are all money wasting bastards to give us those details.

There is of course the possibility he's been paying, say, half for 2 years. But again, two people wrote the article but neither could be research/include that bit (though to be fair, nor did the other news sources I read).

Oh and another thing...

I seriously object to this because it doesn't include inflataion. The rise is probably nearer to 70 than 90


Figures aside, let's have a look at a few other things.

Oh right so he can afford a "big farmhouse in France" and travel to get there, but not his tax.
You're entitled to a nice holiday of course, but it doesn't sound like he on the poverty line.


I seriously doubt that.


Firstly they're not going to let him die.
Secondly what does that have to do with it. If a "real criminal", as the mail puts it, has high blood pressure should they also be let off?



So... let's have a look at some other news sources shall we...
inthenews.co.uk

Funny. The mail didn't mention that bit (except as a quote from the *boo hiss* council spokesman)


edp24


Seems that they forgot to include that too.

(of course whether these quotes are true and are in context isn't certain)


Whether he can afford it or not I don't know. Whether he's getting ripped off or not I don't know. Whether the council really are asshats or not I don't know.
Whether ex army people should get more pension and/or tax cuts is debatable.
But in the end the law is clear, they gave him a lot of time to pay and he refused to do so and as such he's being punished.

Oh yes one last thing.. if all pensioners refused to pay their council tax and everyone else had to make up the shortfall, would there still be outrage, fury and general all round "teh goverment is shit!!11!!" ism?

I don't know how it works in England, but might there not be additional amounts to pay for community council and/or local police authority? That could account for the different figures.

Having said that, it's pretty bloody obvious that the Mail has decided not to give us the full facts just in case the interfere with the story.

Still a bit of a hefty rise though