A woman has been given a suspended prison sentence for racking up hundreds of pounds of court fines and failing to pay them back.

Charlene Bolton, 34, of Keighley Road, Harold Hill, owes Barkingside Magistrates’ Court £1,724.51.

The court heard yesterday that she has not made any payments since March 13 2013. Some of the fines date as far back as 2005 and 2008.

Bolton said she didn’t “know how to go about” paying and was not refusing.

But bench chairman David Cox said: “You have already paid in the past. If you know how to pay, you have obviously refused to pay since 2013.”

Bolton was handed a 45-day suspended sentence.

Mr Cox said she had been found guilty of wilful refusal to pay the money and that all other methods of payment had been “tried and failed”.

He added that she seems to be “enjoying a reasonable lifestyle,” citing her mobile phone and satellite television contracts.

Bolton must pay £20 every week from May 1.