Court issues warrant for arrest of James Gray from Corby who is accused of not paying £4k in child support

A father who was due in court to face a charge of not paying more than £4,000 in child support is now subject to an arrest warrant after he did not attend court.

James Gray, 48, had been due at Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (November 22) .

The Department for Work and Pensions wanted to ask the court to either remove his driving licence or send him to prison for allegedly not paying £4,379 in child maintenance.

But Gray, of Park View, Priors Hall, Corby, but did not turn up for the hearing and had no legal representation so the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Under the Child Support Act 1991, courts have the power to order the imprisonment of child maintenance non-payers as a last resort.

Before taking court action, the DWP has normally attempted to collect arrears direct from wages or bank accounts. The CMS also has the power to ask the court to force the sale of a home or remove expensive goods to try to pay the arrears. If these steps fail, or prove impossible, it is at this stage that the DWP asks the court to consider imprisonment.

Earlier this month, a company director who earned £100,000 per year was given a suspended jail sentence after Teesside magistrates heard he owed more than £11,000 in child support but had lied about and diverted his income for years.