Mother-of-two to sue State for imprisonment for not paying loan

The decision to impose a one-month prison sentence on a woman for the non-payment of a debt of €5,865 has been described as being something from Victorian times when people could be jailed for lengthy terms over debts, the High Court has heard.

In what is seen as an important test case, mother-of-two Caroline McCann, Mullaghmatt, Co Monaghan has commenced proceedings against the State where she is seeking to a quash a 2005 District Court order jailing her for one month over her failure to meet loan instalments of €82 per week owed to Monaghan Credit Union.