A BUSINESSMAN from Malmesbury who cheated the tax man out of £32,000 has walked free from court.

Harold Stuchbury, known as Stewart Stuchbury, of Gloucester Road, admitted fleecing the Inland Revenue out of more than £30,000 during a period of almost three years.

The 58-year-old created a number of bogus claims for VAT refunds and supported his applications with invoices he had doctored with his home computer.

When he was questioned he said his failing firm had an American office which he visited monthly, though his passport showed he had only gone to the USA once.

However, on hearing how he fell on hard times and couldn’t pay the mortgage when his wife had to stop work because of serious illness, a judge spared him immediate jail.

Kevin Dent, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how Stuchbury’s company Nineteen 58 Ltd was first registered for VAT in 2011.

Towards the end of 2013 the Revenue were suspicious about his claims for repayments which led to a tax officer going to see him.

At that meeting Stuchbury claimed he had sold the business to Harry James Design, and so no longer had any paperwork for it.

However he could not provide contact details for the new owner and searches found it did not exist.

Mr Dent said companies which were said to have provided the invoices were contacted, and they denied issuing them

He said “Mr Stuchbury, over a period of about a year, made two false claims for VAT in respect of two different periods and supporting those false claims for VAT repayments with the false invoices and consequently obtaining the £32,000-odd by way of payments.

“The investigation of this matter has been made considerably more complex and protracted by Mr Stuchbury continuing to assert matters which subsequently came to be apparent to be not true.”

As a result of the claims he said £32,252.83 was repaid to him between March 2011 and January 2014.

Mr Dent said that as the defendant’s finances were in a parlous state they would not be seeking costs or to recoup the money through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Stuchbury, of Gloucester Road, Malmesbury, pleaded guilty to being knowingly concerned in the evasion of tax.

Andrew Hobson, defending, said that although there was thought involved in the crime it was “not in the first rank of planned sophistication”.

He said that after making the first claim for repayment he was asked to produce invoices to support it.

As a result he altered paperwork he had from other companies using his computer to change the dates on them.

Passing sentence Judge Sir John Royce said: “You became involved in this because of difficulties in repaying your mortgage after you wife became seriously ill and she had to give up work.

“You have been a man of good character, impeccable character, up until then and that stands in your stead.

“It was a sophisticated fraud, it was over quite a sustained period of time. You did forge invoices to support it. It involved quite a degree of planning.

“At the moment you are caring for your father, caring for your wife, you have lost your house, you have no assets, nothing.”

He imposed a 20 month jail term suspended for 18 months with a one week midnight to 6am curfew.

Colin Spinks, assistant director of the fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: “Stuchbury had previously traded legitimately, but decided to defraud the VAT system to fund his living expenses.

“When confronted with evidence of his business records from our investigation he eventually admitted his lies. HMRC will continue to pursue those who attack the tax system, and we ask anyone with information about suspected VAT fraud to contact our 24-hour Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”