THE wife of Great Harwood scrap yard boss Tommy Smith has appeared in court for non-payment of £38,695 in fines and costs.

Blackburn magistrates heard Mary Smith had made minimal payments on the debt some elements of which went back to 2017.

She said for part of the time she had been in prison and her assets were still frozen as part of Proceeds of Crime applications by the police.

But the magistrates ruled there had been culpable neglect and imposed a suspended prison sentence.

The chairman said all other methods of recovering the debt had been tried and failed.

"You had the means to pay and failed to do so," said the chairman. "Your main fines were a long time before you went to prison."

Smith, 44, 0f Meadow Street, Great Harwood, was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended on condition she makes an initial payment of £200 and then £100 a month.

If all payments are made the debt will be paid off in 2053 when Smith will be 76 years old.

Smith told the court that as well as spending time in prison she had all her assets frozen by the police under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

In August 2019, Smith and her husband Tommy were jailed for their role in the thefts of plant and machinery from across the country, including addresses in the Greater Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Carlisle areas.

As part of Operation Redmill, a covert investigation which targeted high-value thefts and the handling of stolen goods, 43-year-old Tommy, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering, was sentenced to six and a half years.

Mary Smith, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering, was sentenced to 15 months.

"I have now got until June to pay £55,000 or I go back to prison again," she said.

Smith said as a result of being disqualified from driving she had lost her job during the criminal proceedings. She got her licence back in December and had been working on a cash-in-hand basis as a driver for Great Harwood Skip Hire since then.

She told the magistrates she was earning £500 a week. She said her husband was in prison and she was the sole carer for their children.