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A pensioner with dementia has been given a criminal record after the DVLA took her to court over £43 of unpaid car tax. The 87-year-old woman reportedly did not renew the tax on her car after it expired in February, and was handed a legal notice. The pensioner's son wrote to the court, which operates behind closed doors, to explain that her husband, who previously handled the household bills in Essex, was admitted to a care home last year after exhibiting signs of advanced dementia.

In July this year, the 87-year-old also started showing signs of dementia and has now moved into a care home too. Her son insisted that his mother was "very confused" and was not able to deal with legal proceedings, yet the case continued anyway. The pensioner was prosecuted under the Single Justice Procedure (SJP), which streamlines the handling of non-imprisonable cases.

The woman's son issued a guilty plea to the car tax charge online, and explained to the court that his mother had relied on her husband to deal with the bills until his health declined.

He said: "She did not cope well with dealing with day-to-day tasks, despite the attempts at help from me and other family members. Many important letters were tucked away by her and did not receive a response.

"Prior to the date of the incident, she had stopped driving but retained the car. She evidently did not respond to the notice to renew the vehicle licence nor show it to a family member.

"On the day in question, she lent the car to her granddaughter, who is insured to drive it. The driver was unaware that the vehicle was unlicensed at the time."

The son added that his family rectified the situation "at the first opportunity" after realising the bill was unpaid.

He added that they were not able to find a letter sent out by the DVLA on April 25 which offered an out-of-court settlement.

According to The Standard, the son said: "Her dementia is such that she is now very confused and would be totally unable to respond to this charge by herself, either in writing or in person in court."

Magistrate Kiran Dhillon accepted the guilty plea and convicted the pensioner with an absolute discharge, opposed to a financial penalty.