Prison officer safety equipment rolled out - PAVA incapacitant spray READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prison-officer-safety-equipment-rolled-out

Please help, I'm so scared that i'm going to prison I'm on ESA and have been for the past 3/4 years. In that time, i've have 3 part time jobs all 16 hours and under and i've declared all of them with a permitted work form. The only reason i can think this has come about is that at the beginning of July this year i was offered a job for 16 hours but was told i'd have at least 1 day extra as overtime. I rang up ESA and told them i wanted to stop my ESA claim. A few days later my mental health went to crap and i told my new boss that i wouldn't be able to do it. She then agreed to me doing only 16 hours and i thought i could handle that (i hadn't even started the job when i told her i couldn't do it). I then did an ESA rapid reclaim and was told that everything would be the same as my old claim, Income related ESA in the support group. Turns out that i'm now contribution based ESA in the support group, i didn't even know until my housing benefit stopped a few weeks ago. I'd also started a claim for working tax credits as originally i'd be working 25 hours a week on average. i sent in my permitted work form for 16 hours a week and started my new job at the end of July. By this time my mental health was getting worse again and i didn't realize it, i was getting all these letters from people for changes in income, the dwp health assessment letter for my esa and i just couldn't cope. About 4 weeks after i'd started work, i realized i hadn't even stopped the WTC i spoke to an online adviser and told them that i needed to stop my tax credits and thought nothing of it as at the beginning esa was deducting the WTC amount from my ESA and i had to wait for a letter to come through to send to ESA to prove i had ended WTC. I didn't think anymore of it. On October the 1st, i had to send in a sick note to work because i just couldn't cope anymore, i couldn't leave the house, someone knocking at the door or the phone ringing terrified me and i had to go back onto anti depressants and anti anxiety medication, and on October the 12th (i think) i was dismissed from work. I went to the post office to get my money for my child tax credits on the 10th or the 11th of October, i normally get it out on a wednesday but i was short on money so i got it out on the tuesday instead, and i realise that there's too much money. I thought that because i was getting my money out on the Wednesdays every 2 weeks and the amounts were the same, that WTC had informed ESA about me stopping WTC and ESA were paying the amount they said they would when they had notification of my WTC stopping. i logged onto my online tax credits account, and there was a live claim for WTC! I immediately stopped it online and as the end date i put the 12th of October as this was my dismissal date. I've sent them a letter about over payments (my phone and internet were cut off) because i wasn't entitled to that money, but i've not heard anything. Will they get back to me about it or am i going to have to call them or speak to them instead? The payments i received for my job was £380 at the beginning of September, about the same at the end of September, £250 at the end of October and £150 holiday pay at the end of November. I'm so scared that i'm going to prison. I have a partner that i have to care for and a 3 year old. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I sent in my permitted work form and told WTC to stop my WTC, then ended it myself when i saw it was still a live claim. I really don't know what to do That's the only reason i can think of as to why they think i didn't declare my employment status, but i thought that if it was under 16 hours a week and less than £100 a month, then it's classed as permitted work. Now i'm wondering if it was either of the other jobs i did. I don't even know anymore as the letter only states undeclared work and nothing else. My interview is the 21st of December and i've told them that i'm going to attend. I'm too scared of police turning up to my door if i don't go. I'm really scared as i've never been to court, i don't even have a criminal record! I've never done anything illegal let alone got in trouble for a crime. What happens now? I've messaged a few people at the local solicitors but not heard anything yet and the CAB in my area is only open for about 5-6 hours every Thursday, but i'm not guaranteed an appointment. I feel so sick, i can't eat, i can't sleep, if the door bell rings or someone knocks on the door, it sends me into such a state that i'm having panic attacks. Even the phone ringing petrifies me and i'm shaking whenever the post man comes because i'm scared of what post may come through my door. What do i do? Sorry for being a baby and for my post being so long. I'm nearly 30 and should be able to cope with this but i can't

The following is a short extract from a press release that featured on SCOOP yesterday regarding the trial of a debtor (Danny Williamson) who threatened bailiffs with knives and an imitation gun when they attended his property seeking payment of £1,100 for a fine relating to alleged traffic offences. From the report, it would seem that the debtor had claimed that he had not known of the debt. Bailiffs stated that they would be taking control of his vehicle. He was finally arrested at gunpoint by armed police. Judge Ian Graham handed Mr Williamson a 12 month prison sentence at Basildon Crown Court yesterday suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to pay £520 in court costs. Further details can be read here: http://www.basildonstandard.co.uk/news/14875264.Grandad_grabs_a_fake_gun_to_scare_away_two_bailiffs/ http://www.scoop.it/t/lacef-news

Hello, I am going to copy the letter that I have spent all day preparing, to send back to HMRC after I received a tax credit letter stating that they need to check my tax credit claim. I know that I have been stupid. I shouldn't have posted the claim form at the end of Sept when i had already signed up to uni and had already decided to just work for the playgroup. I kept meaning to ring them and tell them I no longer wanted to claim it but just kept letting myself get distracted by other matters. I then got a phone call about a week ago and was told that they wanted to check some information about my work. I agreed and stupidly just said yes when she asked if i was still acting in cleaning, gardening and clerical work. I have only been doing clerical work this year and only for one customer after receiving the letter and panicking that i am going to go to prison i went online and found this place and although it has reassured me that i probably wont go to prison i am still past myself with worry that they will carry out a full investigation and i will lose my job. I cannot have a criminal conviction with my work. I have not at any point earned enough money to pay tax or NI on my income. Please would someone take the time to read my letter and tell me whether you think i will be prosecuted please, thank you in advance, any advice will be gratefully received. Dear Sir or Madam, Stupidity and ignorance are no excuse for the mistakes I have made but in an attempt to be as transparent as possible I am setting out some information that will help you understand how I have come to be in the position that I am in with regards to tax credits. I previously worked as a teaching assistant in the early year’s sector in primary schools in *******. I worked in the sector for 14 years. When new leadership came into the school and my contract hours were cut I decided to leave and to attempt to be self employed. (April/2014) I started off doing craft fairs and selling hand- made items through fairs and word of mouth. However there was very little money in the type of field I had tried to enter and it was obvious that I wasn’t going to make any real money in the process. The profits were too low compared to the outlay. I began a cleaning job to increase my income and started looking for other work I was contacted by ****** playgroup in the September of 2014 and asked to work as a consultant in order to help them to improve when they received a ‘requires improvement’ judgement from Ofsted. I sincerely believed that the work I was doing, as most of it was done from home and other parts were going in to deliver training, constituted self employment. The income received from this work was declared in my self assessment declaration that was processed by my tax accountant. The workload increased over the next year to the point where I was working almost solely for them but still growing vegetables and making occasional commission pieces for people. By now I wasn’t cleaning the holiday cottage on a regular basis but had some work cleaning cottages on a as needs basis. Again all of my income was declared. I moved from my previous home that was a smallholding in Sept of 2015. From there, on an honesty box principle, I used to sell vegetables and eggs from my chickens. When I moved the new garden wasn’t ready to do that from but I have been working on it in the hope of having it ready for next year to continue to do the same. However, having now looked into the matter I understand that this sort of attempt to make money is not really considered to be attempting to make a profit on a self employment basis. Therefore, I shall not be doing this again. I was asked to be a permanent member of staff from Sept 2016 by the playgroup I had been working with, with 12 hours of that being in the setting and doing 8 hours a week admin at home. I thought I would remain partly self employed and part employed. ********* playgroup operates for 15 hours a week and is staffed by part time staff and volunteers. They were PAYE exempt as no-one earned over £112 per week due to the low operating hours and low wage at the time of £7 an hour. This was increased to £8.20 an hour when the new minimum hourly rate came in in April 2016. After receiving your letter I have done what I should have done ages ago and found out some more information about what constitutes self employment and have realised that in fact I would be regarded as an employee and not self employed due to receiving holiday pay etc since April. Also that the sale of produce from my garden does not really amount to attempting to make a profit. I should have sought advice earlier but just carried on assuming that as long as I declared my income that would be alright. When I was asked to become a permanent member of staff I fully intended to make up my hours from the 20 at the playgroup to 30 through acquiring 10 extra hours in the form of cleaning work or more clerical work, but casual work is very hard to come by in my area at present. Also in the meantime I decided to go to university in order to improve my qualifications in the hope that in the future I might gain a full time better paid job. The course is full time and I soon realised that I wasn’t going to be able to meet the commitment required of the course and the 20 hours a week at the playgroup and take on extra work. I realise that I should have contacted you immediately and withdrawn my claim for working tax credits and I have no excuse for it except to admit that I allowed other things to seem more pressing. It is only since considering my position that I have realised that my status as a self employed person is incorrect and I can only sincerely apologise for my error. I of course wish to cease the application for the working tax credits as I accept that with my current working hours I am not entitled to them and apologise further for not contacting you sooner. I am in the process of engaging a new tax accountant and hopefully will be able to get my tax status sorted out with HMRC. Because of my new understanding of my employment status we will be setting up a PAYE scheme at the playgroup with this accountant to sort out what needs to be done about my payments since April and to avoid any further confusion. To clarify my working hours for this tax year I have set out my income from the playgroup in a table below. I hope that this clarifies matters regarding my income so far this year and my probable income for 2016/2017, although should I be prosecuted over this matter my employment will cease as I am expected to have a clean DBS as I work in the children’s workforce. Please let me know what else I can do to get this matter sorted out. In the meantime I hope I have included everything I can to answer the information that was requested in the letter dated OCT.16 from HMRC. I know that I shouldn’t have sent in the claim for tax credits as I was becoming increasingly aware that I would have to focus on the work at playgroup and doing my degree and nothing else as I was going to struggle to fit anything else in. I have been stupid and not sought proper advice about matters that were important and should have been prioritised. I am begging you to consider the fact that the working tax credits and child tax credits received in regards to my daughter until the end of August 2016 were received in good faith as I was working an average of approximately 18 hours a week, however if this money is considered to be an overpayment, then I will of course pay it back. And also that I have asked for the new claim to be withdrawn and have not received any money in regards to this claim. Started trading as a sole trader 19/04/2014 2014/2015 profit account £2043 Doing craft shows, commissions and cleaning holiday cottages. 2015/2016 profit account £4707 commissions and cleaning holiday cottages, also selling a small amount of produce from my garden and working as a consultant for ****** Playgroup. From April 2016 working for ******** approx 18 hours a week Playgroup operates for 15 hours a week term time only (39 weeks a year). Term time 20 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £6396 39 wks 780 hours Holiday pay 20 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £ 820 5 wks 100 hours Admin pay 5 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £ 246 6 wks 30 Outside term time 2 weeks unpaid. £7462 910 hours per year. For a full year a total of 910 hour. 910/52 weeks = 17.5hours per week. £7462 pa/12 = £621.83 As you will be able to see from my bank statements this is the amount that has been paid in monthly. Total wages were worked out and paid monthly to make cash flow for playgroup easier. I have enclosed my bank statements and the slips I receive from playgroup to show I have been paid. I have included a set of copies of the bank statements with notes next to the debits and credits listed to show what the amounts are for although most of them are referenced in such a way that they are self explanatory. I have considered myself to be covered by the insurance that the playgroup has and have included a copy of their policy although I haven’t sent the original as this does not belong to me, if you require the original please let me know and I will ask for permission to send it to you. I don’t have a mortgage and I don’t have business vehicle insurance as I don’t use the vehicle for anything other than commuting. The work I do as far as I am aware does not require any licensing or regulations. I have included my most recent profit and loss accounts. I don’t have a business plan and am afraid I have to admit I never had, I just hoped I would make enough money to get by on until something better came along. I hope I have covered everything; once again I apologise and hope that this matter can be sorted out

The following is a short extract from a press report in today's Daily Telegraph regarding the Reverend Paul Nicolson's forthcoming court appearance at Tottenham Magistrates Court: By the end of next week, Paul Nicolson could be facing prison and bankruptcy – an unexpected turn of events for an 84-year-old retired vicar who has never previously been in this type of trouble. On 15 June, he will appear at Tottenham magistrates court in north London for non-payment of council tax since 2013: he owes £2,831.42. Meanwhile, he must decide what to do about the £47,000 in costs awarded against him last month after he lost, in the high court, a case he brought against Haringey council over the level of court charges imposed on residents for non-payment of council tax. It is all a great deal of money that he doesn’t have, but he appears to be delighted at the potential scandal that the imprisonment of a retired vicar could stir up, and the useful attention that his case could bring to a little-understood aspect of welfare reform. “I am really not in the slightest bit afraid of prison,” Nicolson says. He is looking forward to his court appearance, where he will have the opportunity to explain why he has decided not to pay his bills. “One of the joys of refusing to pay,” he says, is that there is a “wonderful opportunity” to tell the story of why the 2013 abolition of a centralised council tax benefit has had such catastrophic consequences for hundreds of thousands of people. Tottenham’s magistrates would be wise to steel themselves for Nicolson’s 10 o’clock appearance in the dock, because his arguments are likely to be delivered with the mesmerisingly stern precision of a 1940s BBC newsreader. A group of protesters are due to gather outside the court in support of his campaign. http://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/jun/08/vicar-dibley-paul-nicolson-council-tax-refusing-benefit-cuts-jail-prison?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Scoop

The following is an extract of an article that appeared on SCOOP yesterday: Full story here: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-mother-chased-bailiffs-carving-knife-walks/story-28348975-detail/story.html#ixzz3uVapzLee

A friend shared a house with a man for a few months. She was not in a relationship with him nor was he a friend. She just happened to live in the same house. She left the house about 4 months ago and apparently the man she shared with is now in prison. She is being pursued by the council for this man's unpaid council tax. I understand that the council is allowed to pursue fellow tenants, but is this still the case when the council knows where the other person is living (ie prison?) Is there any way that she can avoid having to pay someone else's debt?

This relating to a court fine I received 3 year ago for a train fine, something I actually completely forgot about until marstons got involved any help would be very appreciated. 25.2.14 Removal notice stating Client HMCTS I attended your address today at 15.53 to arrange payment under the terms of a warrant issued on behalf of the above client. Despite pervious notices this matter has not been settled, which means the costs are increasing and I therefore urge you to contact me on the telephone number below immediately I spoke to her on the 25.2.14 stating that I had lost my job through no fault of my own a few weeks ago and only just started claiming JSA(not proud, worked since 13) but it was my 21st coming up and would be able to pay the £701.95 with my birthday money. Unfortunately 5 days before my 21st my cousin past away so as you can imagine I didn’t have a birthday and through no fault of their own most of the family forgot, so I was unable to pay the fine. On the 21.3.14 I received a marston card through the door saying the usual. I have a distress warrant issued against you by magistrates court, I will be re-attending your premises with a locksmith if necessary. I phoned the bailiff explained what had happened over my birthday and said I would be in contact in the next few days. On the 28.4.14 I received a text from the bailiff saying “as you have failed to make payment on your court warrant we will now be authorizing an arrest warrant with court, you have had more than enough time to sort this out of witch you have failed. I replied “I could still not make the payment, I am still claiming jsa as haven’t found a job but do have a job lined up looking to start 27.5.14. I can make regular payments but since the start I have just been told it’s not good enough She replied “I am afraid it would have to be paid in full as I cannot hold off action any longer otherwise you could be looking at going to prison” I replied “surely it can’t lead to prison, as I am agreeing to pay it back but I just need to pay it in installments till I start working again” This was the last message , I have not received anything back and as you can imagine im starting to panic a little bit. I know I should of done something about this back in march but it is a very scary process and sometimes it is easier to put to back of your mind. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!

There are so many press reports recently of debtors being arrested and in this case, found guilty and sentenced to 8 months in prison (suspended). In this case the debtor's car had been moved onto a vehicle trailer by bailiffs from JBW Group and the debtor set the car on fire. Link and word version of story below: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-man-set-car-seized-bailiffs/story-26217852-detail/story.html Desperate Bekim Recica, aged 42, set the Vauxhall Zafira ablaze as a recovery company prepared to remove it from outside his home, Plymouth Crown Court heard. The father-of-five had earlier threatened to kill anyone who came near the vehicle. Nobody was hurt but the car was wrecked and the low loader where it was sitting was damaged, the court heard. Handing him a suspended prison sentence, Judge Paul Darlow told him: “It was explained to you that once the car was seized, it no longer belonged to you. “You clearly armed yourself with petrol and made very determined efforts to set fire to the car despite very clear warnings.”

Dear all. I'm hoping someone can help me with this one. We've had a history with this business for many years. They seem to magically make new accounts appear from nowhere and up to now we have several. Anyway, this latest letter announcing a new unpaid account of more than £1000 has got me very angered. It's basically a letter threatening us to pay up or go to prison for up to 90 days. Here's a taster of the letter's contents: "As you have failed to make payment arrangements on this account with us, the next stage in the recovery procedure is to formally report this to the Local Authority, recommending that they make application to the Magistrates Court (their emphasis) for a hearing to consider your committal to prison. The Magistrates Court costs associated with this application will be £305.00 payable by you." Whether or not I do owe the money on the account is not for dispute at this time. However, my question is: can a bailiff company legally use tactics or language like this to encourage you to pay them money? I was unaware that debt collection companies were authorised to recommend non-payment for prison custody. I hope somebody clued up with this type of legal stuff could advise me as to the legality of this letter and what I can do in response. I can provide the full letter in full if required and requested. Many thanks and regards.

Hi all, Im hoping some of you may be able to give me some advice... To cut a really long story short my husband had a 5year lease on a pub. It was his dream and it was doing very well. 2 years ago he became ill and was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he subsequently passed away and i put a manager in the pub to keep it going. I arranged with the brewery to transfer the lease in to my own name and what happened some 12 months later. I have since hit some rocky times with a succession of bad managers and not enough time to focus al my attention on it since i had a job of my own which i needed to carry on in order to support my family. I was never able to draw anything from the pub as it didnt turn enough profit and i have ended up putting 30k of my own money into it to keep it funded. Sadly, i decided to give notice as i could no longer deal with the stress and received no help from the brewery. I have a few months left. In the meantime debts have been building to suppliers, mainly business rates and utilities. The utilities are in the pub name. The rates are in my name at the oub address. I have no money left to pay these at all. The weekly takings just about cover rent to the brewery, and unless that is paid they will jot release a beer order which would lead to obvious problems. I am paying the staff wages and other day to day costs personally where i can but its gettng hard and ive not been paying my own mortgage somtimes just to keep it going. they have recently obtained a liability order for the rates so i know a bailiff visit will be imminent. There are no assets on site that would cover it. What will they do? More worryingly, as i will not have been able to clear it before i leave what happens next? Im worried about them outting a warrent out for my arrest or something and also that i wont know about it as ill no longer have acces to the post that goes to the pub but i dont really want to give them my home add incase they then come there to take everything.... Please could someone advise what will happen and what is my course of action... Thankyou in advance... S

Around 12 years ago I bought a small plot of land in Wiltshire. I bought the land from a company called Gladwish Land Sales. I have renently been informed by Gladwish Land Sales that I must clear my land of weeds otherwise I will go to prison. Being financially unable to clear the weeds as the land is many miles from my home and living on a very small pension, I assume I will soon be in prison. When I bought the land I never realised that I would become such a danger to the public that I may end up in prison. Should this happen it will cost the tax payer around £600 per week to keep me in prison even though I pose no danger to anyone. Has the law in this country gone bonkers I ask myself.

I feel bad coming here for help but please bare with me About 20 years ago I was taken into my local DSS office where I admitted claiming benefits while I started a new business. I was given the option of paying back the amount I owed or go to court. I agreed, of course that I should pay this back and as I did, I also received a summons and was sentenced to prison time. At this point It felt unfair as we had agreed to pay and not face court. However, I had taken the benefits. I stopped paying the money because of this. I felt the prison time served was enough. why should I be punished twice? However even though I have not been on benefits since I am now starting to get demands for the £2000 with court action threatened. I am not on benefits but am self employed,on a low low income and so am worried. I know I can make an offer to pay weekly, I was wondering if I can make a request to see the original paperwork to see if the court or pay option was recorded. Also, is there a statute of limitations on such a debt after so long also. Thanks

There has been discussion on whether some jailed for life should be kept inside for the whole of their lifes. Should this be the case, no matter how much it costs or should the government look at other options ? If someone is kept in a maximum security prison for 50 years, that would cost approximately £2.5 million. This is the equivalent of the tax paid by 500 full time workers on average salaries. How would these people feel that their hard earned tax is going on paying for murderers meals, accommodation, plus their funeral costs at the end of their life ? While I do not support the death penalty, when you work out the costs of justice and that the family of the murdered may be paying their taxes to feed/house these people, it does make you ask the question.

Hello I am Chinese studying in UK. I applied for a Driving Permit one month ago. I sent both my passport and Residence Permit. But DVLA sent me back only my passport. I have tried to contact them more than 20 times already. I have booked hotels and ferries already, as I was planning a holiday around Europe. Now I cannot apply a Schengen Visa, because they've lost it?. Please help me. I need to file a complaint and ask for compensation of around £2860 DVLA is holding me a prisoner in UK

As reported from the hertfordshiremercury website, http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Cheshunt-and-Waltham/Suspended-sentence-for-bailiff-who-stole-10k-from-Waltham-Abbey-debt-collection-firm-20130923104950.htm. Although things may be on the up for the UK with press reports that the UK is coming out of recession it appears that not every one can get themselves out of debt, even when they themselves are involved in the business of collecting debts on behalf of creditors. A BAILIFF who stole nearly £10,000 from a debt collection company in Waltham Abbey has been spared jail. Gary Walker, 43, of St Edmunds Close, Gorleston, pleaded guilty to theft by employee and fraud by abuse of position between October 2011 and July 2012. Walker is now in a wheelchair after a series of mini strokes and also being electrocuted, Chelmsford Crown Court heard that he lost £1,450 of the Marston Group’s money on his way to the bank, and fearing he would be sacked, borrowed cash from a loan shark to cover it up. But when he missed one repayment, the interest escalated and he was threatened. Walker borrowed £3,000 from the loan shark but ended up repaying £8,000. Events spiralled out of control and he was caught out when a Marston client claimed he had already paid a debt. On June 29 last year a defaulter reported he had paid £620 and not the £20 recorded on a receipt handed in by Walker. A full investigation showed £13,972 had been stolen of which Walker had repaid £4,272. On Thursday last week, recorder Duncan Atkinson imposed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years with two years’ supervision. He said Walker had betrayed his employer’s trust and the public’s and laid open to risk defaulters from whom he was collecting fines and council tax. The judge said he could take a lenient approach because of Walker’s low risk of re-offending, previously impeccable character and ill health. He said he had not made any financial gain by what he had done and found it hard to live with the shame. Mitigating, Stuart Cowen described Walker as “the most unlikely bailiff”. He said: “He robbed Peter to pay Paul. “He was taking money but it never went back to him.” The Crown is seeking to confiscate some of Walker’s assets to recoup the loss. Read more: http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Cheshunt-and-Waltham/Suspended-sentence-for-bailiff-who-stole-10k-from-Waltham-Abbey-debt-collection-firm-20130923104950.htm#ixzz2jDy3V4GC

Hello Can a person declare themselves bankrupt whilst in prison and if so how would you go about doing it. Thank you

Hi all, I'm new here so forgive me if I don't have the right forum area, I did try to look around for the appropriate one. It's also long and maybe complicated. this is on behalf of my father. He is in trouble with our local council for benefit fraud of £12k, I know this is not looked upon with much sympathy but let me explain. Years ago in the 80's before we moved to where we are now and when I was a baby my dad had a back injury at work and from then on could no longer work due to this injury which has gotten worse over time. He claimed a benefit (forgive me I don't remember the name) and at the time he was advised by the person that "he did not need to worry about declaring it because it would go on record" My father believed this man and then when we moved here from Watford, claimed other benefits. Coming to this year, my dad's health is much worse, he is in his 60's, has diabetes which has ruined his legs, his back has slipped disks and has a hiatus hernia, plus depression (although not diagnosed by a doctor) due to other awful family events such as my mother dying in 2010. I also believe he may have some mental issues but again, won't go to any "quacks" because his common sense and confusion has gotten worse over the years. He claims housing, council tax and is on disability (I receive carer's and income support to top that up so I am a paid carer for him) and received a pension along with the one he was getting for some years. Admittedly we were all led to believe that we were alright because of the advise that dad was given and we just assumed they knew all about it. when dad would fill out forms he would not mention the 80's benefit he was still getting, I think the confusion came when he didn't realize it was an early pension, and I didn't know how to system worked, I just believed what my dad believed. The council can only go back to 2000, dad was interviewed under caution in September this year, which was a shock as we did not expect it. Dad did not know he had done anything wrong, he realized he infact did and admitted so, and then explained how he intended to pay every single penny back. We had our housing stopped for a while but then was half reinstated so that the landlord could be paid (Something I'll get to in a moment) We also got in contact with the Citizen's Advice. Dad then gets a letter from the council after some back and forth with an agreed price of how much to pay back each month a nd is stated in the letter as long as the payments are kept up and on time they will not proceed further, which was a great relief. And would be paid off by July next year. Clearly we were mistaken, we then get a huge amount of paperwork from the council, with a letter of 8 summons to court for the 7th of December. When we saw this we simply fell apart, we thought that as long as we paid it all back that Dad would not go to prison, and although it only says prison is one of the punishments, that it could just be more money that needs to be paid back as a charge, myself and my father are terrified that he will go to prison for this and he simply will not last, as I have explained his mental state and physical state will not cope. Right now personally my mental state is taking a beating, I am not eating or sleeping right, this weekend has been a nightmare. My Dad is going to phone the council a little later to get a clearer picture of what they mean by this, and then also phone Citizen's Advice again. As stated above he intends on paying everything back, and we're just confused about the letter because we thought we arranged to pay everything back without any threats of prison. Dad now knows that what he did was wrong albeit a mistake due to listening to bad advice years ago, and clearly not having much knowledge on how the system works. For my whole life we have never been rich, we have always been struggling with payments of bills so I can tell you that even now we are not coping very well especially after this. My brother who still lives with us managed to get a job (which we did declare) and it is myself and him that are having to help a great deal with the money. Going back to our landlord, when our housing was reinstated the council didn't tell us and nor did our landlord so when we were paying all of the rent which was a stressful situation, turns out our landlord was also claiming the housing and didn't bother to tell us , so we were paying him the full amount of rent when we didn't need to. So we've stopped that, although the landlord has not gotten back to us about that situation... But I just won't know what to do if my dad goes to prison, I am terrified.

Hi all, Apologies if this is in the wrong section. Two years ago myself and my partner separated when I was pregnant, when he moved out he took the tv and the sofa. A few months later when my daughter was only a few days old, a tv licensing enforcement officer called, I was in bed at the time feeding the baby. I spoke to him through the window and asked him to call back, he posted a payment card through the door and left, then I recieved a court summons. On this summons he'd made a statement with a lot of lies eg. I'd said I owned a tv, I had watched tv that day etc. He had my name but no signature, no make or model of any tv, no N.I number and no D.O.B as asked for on the form. I went to court and pleaded not guilty and then it went to trail as it was my word against his. The judge found me guilty because Mr X had worked for the tv licensing for 20 years and maybe I was confused as I'd just had a baby! (exact words). Anyway I was fined £180 plus costs and I have refused to pay, even when the bailiffs came knocking I stood my ground, but now I've recieved a letter from the courts stating I have 7 days to pay in full or I'll be arrested, I dont want to pay this fine, If I was guilty fair enough but I've been fined for something I havent done. Any advice on whats likely to happen when they arrest me please, because I'm not in a position to pay within 7 days anyway. Many thanks in advance

Hi, I'm new to this and forums, so forgive me if I've put this in the wrong place. My ET1 was accepted. The employers submitted an ET3. Due to 'an administrative error' (Employment Tribunal's phrase), there has been a very long delay between my being physically attacked by my employers and the submitting of forms by them and the employers. I have literally just received the hearing and due process dates and today I have received a letter from my now ex-employers' solicitors, asking for an unbelieveable amount of information, that I would have to get together by this coming Monday. It would take me more than three days under perfect circumstances, but I am on new medication, from the GP, and have been referred to crisis intervention and a psychiatrist, as well as other health care professionals, as in their words, I am very ill, due to the stress of the attack, incidents leading up to the attack, subsequent court case and continuing intimidation and threats. I am too ill to get this replying information in this time frame. How do I word an email to the Employment Tribunal people, to ask for an extension, to get myself together enough, to answer all these questions? I am also suffering side effects from the medications and clinical depression. Also, I have been asked by the tribunal people to describe my disability (also present at the time of employment) under some kind of regulation rules. Do you know how I do this please? I take about ten medications to maintain my hormone levels, including Metformin as I am pre-diabetic and I am diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, which is triggered by things like stress, including someone trying to kill me. At some point, I will post a full explanation as to what happened, but I need to first remove the stress of being expected to answer a whole heap of intricately detailed questions by Monday. Thank you for taking time to read this; I hope it makes sense (it's hard to concentrate at the moment) and if anyone answers, I thank you, in advance, for your help. If possible, I think I have to ask for the extension today. C