Court bill man threatened with jail in Mansfield

The court heard that Andrzej Krystian Kowalewski, 29, of Burns Street, Mansfield, had only paid £195 in that time.

The debt came from convictions for drink driving in May 2011, theft from a vehicle in July 2015 and harassment without violence in March 2016.

He was also fined for missing probation appointments in March 2016.

Kowalewski told the court he had returned to Poland in 2011 and changed addresses on his return to the UK.

He said he was currently unemployed and was being helped financially by a friend. He said he had struggled after the breakdown of a relationship.

Magistrates ruled that Kowalewski had wilfully refused to pay, and sentenced him to 28 days in prison, suspended until he clears his bill at £5 a week.