A LORRY driver has been sent to prison after failing to pay more thousands of pounds in court debts.

David Wilson had promised to pay the court at a rate of £5 per week, but despite repeated warnings and numerous written notices he paid just £65 off his debt of £2,272.

At Worcester Crown Court district judge Bruce Morgan told Wilson his failure to pay was “paramount to driving a coach and horses straight through the court system”.

“The purpose of a fine is punishment,” said the judge. “If you don’t pay it you are saying to society, ‘I’m going to commit crimes and I’m going to get away with it’.

“It’s unacceptable.”

Wilson, a 39-year-old father-of-one, of Shepherds Green, Droitwich, received state benefits while unemployed for two years.

He told the court he did not know why he had continued to ignore the debt.

He was sentenced to 43 days in prison.