Council tax cheat gets prison sentence
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
12/02/2008
A man who flouted the law by continually failing to pay his council tax has been sentenced to more than three weeks in jail.
Full-time student Ike Ugwujide, 41, of Albion Mews in Hammersmith, missed payments of more than £4,500 stretching back over five years and was found to be sub-letting his housing association flat while he studied for a masters’ degree in Colchester.
Ugwujide was sentenced to 24 days in prison on Tuesday 5 February at West London Magistrates Court after numerous attempts to get him to pay council tax from April 2003 to March 2007 failed. These included demands, reminders, liability orders and bailiff action.
Ugwujide was then summoned to appear before magistrates on May 31 last year (2007) but he did not attend and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
When he eventually appeared before magistrates on June 28, Ugwujide was found guilty of culpable neglect, given a 28-day suspended sentence and ordered to pay his council tax at a rate of £200 a month.
He made only one payment of £170 in July last year and after missing yet another court appearance Ugwujide was arrested and sent to prison.
Councillor Greg Smith, Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour, said: “This council will not tolerate blatant disregard for the law and we are committed to making sure council tax cheats do not get away with this type of behaviour. I hope this case will encourage others to pay their council tax on time and in full.”
