Carpet fitter pays back £110,000 in tax to avoid prison term

This was £26,000 more than the £84,000 he pocketed during the 13 year long fiddle to cover interest accrued on the debt.

Keith Bradburn - who worked for himself - did not submit a self assessment form for the financial years 2001 and 2014, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

Revenue and Customs officials failed to spot this - despite him being registered for tax - and the fraud was only uncovered when they checked the affairs of Trinity Carpets, one of the firms for which the 48-year-old worked.

Mr David Craig, prosecuting, explained: "They found a number of invoices from the defendant and it was clear no records of his tax returns had been kept."

Bradburn repeatedly ignored letters and voicemail messages left by investigators who discovered he had a large amount of savings in cash ISAs.

He was arrested on May 28 last year and a search of his home in Long Furrow, Pendeford unearthed a box with a neat bundle of paperwork inside.

It contained all the invoices for his work and details of the expenses incurred but the detailed record was not for his tax return. It had been prepared as proof of earnings for a mortgage application, the court heard.

Mr Oliver Woolhouse, defending, said: "He was in such a mess he did not know what to do. It is more a case of chaos rather than a criminally minded deliberate offence.

"He has paid tax in the past. He is not somebody who has hidden in the black market throughout his working life which makes it surprising he was not on the radar of the Revenue and Customs sooner.

"He has buried his head in the sand and done nothing, hoping it would go away while squirrelling it away and so was ready to pay the Revenue.

"However the more time that passed, the more difficult he found it to do anything about it.

"He does not want to be worried about looking over his shoulder any more. He is still working for Trinity Carpets who are aware what has happened. He fully co-operated with the investigation."

Bradburn, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud, and was given a 20 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 100 hours unpaid work and £425 costs.

Judge Amjad Nawaz told the defendant, who was of previous good character and not given Legal Aid to cover the cost of his defence: "You have learnt a very expensive lesson. The Revenue are compensated in full and I am able to suspend the sentence because there has been no loss to the public purse."