Derbyshire former military man who fiddled £45,000 in VAT fraud is spared jail sentence

Nathan Jones fraudulently evaded VAT, between October 2017 and June 2019, while collecting and disposing of waste from recycling and skip hire companies, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Tom Heath, prosecuting, said that, although Jones applied for a VAT registration number in 2018 and was allocated two numbers, he never submitted a VAT return.

He issued various invoices under his name and his brother’s name, and used a company called Saints and Sinners, which bore a hijacked company number.

In total, £1.2 million was paid into his bank accounts, with £216,000 of VAT, and HMRC calculated he owed £45,730.

Jones, aged 42, said he did his own accounts and would separate the VAT on a weekly basis, but “decided to reinvest in the business” and pay the VAT later on.

The court heard he has one previous conviction for disposing of waste incorrectly and he was fined by Lincoln magistrates, in June 2021. Jones, of Carnation Road, Shirebrook, admitted the offence, entering his guilty plea a week before his trial.

Katrina Wilson, mitigating, said: “He knows, through me, the situation he is in this morning. I seek to address if the inevitable custodial term could be suspended. She said he served with “an exemplary record in the military”, but since he left “it seems he has been rather inadequate.”

"Alcohol has been a recurring daily feature,” Ms Wilson said. “He fully accepts that one way he gets through the day is through drink. A 12-year relationship has now ended.

“There is another side to this man. He is not seeking to live a lavish life and not paying for things he needs to pay for. He was troubled by demons he doesn’t necessarily believe exist. He is assessed as a low likelihood of reoffending. HMRC has proposed a repayment plan.”

Sentencing, Judge John Sampson told Jones he had seen evidence he served in Jordan and Northern Ireland, but was sceptical about his claims to have served in Iraq.

Jones was jailed for two years, suspended for the next 21 months, with a six-month alcohol treatment, 20 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid work.