A MAN has told a court he was unable to keep up with council tax repayments because he lost his job after being criminally harassed.

Paul Cummins appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court after stopping payments of £100 a month previously imposed by the court.

The 43-year-old, who represented himself, was sentenced in June last year to a suspended prison sentence of 90 days, and was ordered to pay £200, then £100 a month until £2,134 had been paid off.

But prosecutor David Evans told the court the payments had stopped in February this year, adding: “He did advise me why they were going to stop.”

Cummins said: “The situation is that when the order was made in June last year I was employed for a company in Andover earning £27,000 a year.”

But he said he had been subjected to criminal harassment and Hampshire police arranged for him to move from Basingstoke to Woodhill Drive, in Wolverhampton.

He said: “As a result of this move it was necessary to leave my job.”

He added: “The criminal harassment continued to the point where people were knocking on my door at my old address in Basingstoke. I have lost three stone in weight as a result. I’m aware that someone has been arrested as a result of that harassment. However, regrettably, because that harassment has involved putting my past all over the internet I have become unemployable.”

Cummins said he was therefore unable to continue paying £100 a month, and added: “I come ready to be returned to prison if that’s your decision. I sincerely hope it won’t be.”

Magistrates revoked the previous order and sentenced Cummins to 45 days in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to pay instalments of £15.60 per month, directly to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.