Flooring contractor given suspended sentence

A flooring contractor who refused to pay income tax for 18 years has been given a three month suspended prison sentence for perjury following a DTI investigation.

Michael Brown, of Limehouse, London was made bankrupt in 2001 with debts of £34,000, most of which was owed to the Inland Revenue.

The Inland Revenue petitioned for his bankruptcy after failing to recover its debts, despite giving Brown the opportunity to pay in instalments.

During the course of bankruptcy Brown denied having any assets or property and owned up to having only one bank account.

However, a DTI investigation found that he had sold a house in October 2000 for £600,000, buying a new house and pocketing around £50,000 that was left over.  He was also found to hold a second bank account, which he had not told the Official Receiver about.

In court, Brown claimed that his wife had bought the new property and that he had not made any money from the sale, but he later pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury.

In passing sentence His Honour Justice Jackson said: "The Court of Appeal has made plain that perjury should attract imprisonment - I agree with that. Taking account of all factors, especially (your) mental health, the sentence should be suspended.