This morning the Archbishop Cranmer blog reported the case of a man "arrested at 9.30am, tried in secret court, imprisoned by 6.30pm."

"Believe it or not," it continued, "this summary dispensation of ‘justice’ occurred yesterday [Monday] in the Wirral, Merseyside.... arrested, tried and imprisoned all within nine hours – no Habeas Corpus, no trial by jury, no public hearing, and no witnesses called for the defence. At the time of writing the charges are unknown..."

Although Full Fact has enjoyed His Grace's writing for many years, we struggled to believe it and, out of curiosity, set about trying to find out what had happened.

The man in question, Roger Hayes, has been committed to prison for "wilful refusal" to pay Council Tax.

He protests that paying Council Tax would be a breach of anti-terrorism laws, as his taxes could be used to support the UK's involvement in various foreign military actions, actions which he believes amount to terrorism.

Wirral Council does not directly fund the Ministry of Defence, but we speculate Mr Hayes's concern is that it supports the British state more generally.

We asked the Council to explain what had happened, and they told us that they have been dealing with Mr Hayes' non-payment of Council Tax for around 18 months.

The final resort when someone refuses to pay council tax is to apply for them to be committed to prison.

Wirral Council recently did that in respect of Mr Hayes and he was summoned to attend a hearing last Thursday. When he did not attend, the court asked the police to arrest him and bring him before the court.

As direct.gov.uk explains:

"Before issuing a warrant of commitment the court must hold a means enquiry with you present. A warrant will only be issued if the court is satisfied that the failure to pay is the result of wilful refusal or culpable neglect. The maximum period of imprisonment is three months."

That is what happened at Court 6 of Wirral Magistrates' Court on Monday morning in open hearing — although it is fair to point out that as far as we know no members of the press or public were actually present.

To make sure, we checked this version of events with the courts.

A spokesman for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service confirmed that on Monday Roger Hayes was committed to prison for 21 days for arrears and costs of £1477.14.

The explanation offered by the council and backed up by the Courts fits the law, and in spite of the claims of a "secret" trial, the facts are readily obtainable by anyone that cares to look into the matter.

UPDATE (3 July 2012) 

The British Constitution Group - a campaign group headed by Mr Hayes - has this afternoon published an update on the case confirming many of the details above, although they continue to protest that the names of the magistrates and specifics of the hearing are unclear.

UPDATES (6 July 2012)

Since this article was published, we have been told that Mr Hayes has made a statement that he did not receive any notice of the hearing last week that he did not attend. Wirral Council have told Full Fact that a summons was sent to Mr Hayes by first class post on 31 May for the initial hearing on 26 June. It appears that for whatever reason this summons did not reach Mr Hayes.

In response to a complaint from Mr Hayes' supporters, Full Fact has reviewed this article and stands by the accuracy of its content. As is our policy, the article sets out its sources, which any reader can check. However, we have amended the article in three ways: first, to make clear that "refusal" to pay Council Tax is what Mr Hayes has been committed to prison for, not a term chosen by Full Fact; second, to clarify that the initial hearing was last Thursday not last Tuesday; and third, to amend the language in response to complaints that the original wording of the article seemed to make light of concerns expressed about Mr Hayes' experience on Monday. That was not our intention and Full Fact takes no view on the merits of anyone's legal case or political views.