On the 30 November, I appeared in Court to dispute a Council Tax Liability Order. My defence was that; 1. Hull City Council were not properly recording payments made on my account. 2. That the nature of the collection process, if performed by a private company, would be defined as extortion and prohibited. This included a specific mechanical process which has been outlawed recently after abuse by debt-collectors and bailiffs. 3. That the Council are knowingly targetting those with mental health issues as they are the least likely to challenge these suits. This being in direct opposition to their stated Equality and Diversity Strategy. This was being achieved by refusing to recognise people with mental health issues as disabled despite their own doctors and, in many cases, the DWP recognising this status. I believed that it would be sufficient to prove the first point. The case was adjourned until the first week in January. I suffer from a chronic mental health issue. I mostly find it difficult to leave the house at all. Being forced to appear in front of a courtroom full of strangers, all of whom are opposed to me even though none of them know me, pulls all of my triggers. The Council, of course, are aware of this. They are specifically required by their Equality Duty to make provisions in order that people like me are not forced to attend Court. As a result of this process, I spent the whole of Christmas avoiding people as my condition was almost unmanageable. The one friend who dared to visit me, I mortally offended. I am not happy about this. I have few enough friends I can rely on as it is and this one was particularly important. At the second hearing, I turned up with a bank statement showing that I had made a payment to the Council which had not been recorded. The Council kindly provided a statement which showed that they had not recorded this payment. Open and shut, I thought. Not so. The Court found in favour of the Council. Despite clear and irrefutable evidence. This is the second time this has happened. The exact same procedure. Christmas ruined and the Court refusing to acknowledge clear evidence and, in the first instance, an admission of fault by the Council itself. How can this be legal? The situation is now this; I am liable to pay a large sum of money to the Council that I do not believe I owe. If I pay this, the Council are under no apparent obligation to keep a record of this payment. If the Council decides that it wishes to bill me for this amount again, it is able to rely on the complicity of the Magistrates Court for enforcement. Any evidence I present to the contrary will be disregarded. It is subsequently my sincere belief that Hull City Council, with the complicity of the Magistrates Court, are running a racket against the some of the most disadvantaged members of the local community. Any suggestions on what to do next would be most welcome.