A former pub landlord has been served up a suspended sentence after fiddling his taxes to the tune of over £80,000 by inventing imaginary staff members.
Patrick ‘Tom’ O’Donnell, of the Prince of Wales pub in St George’s Road, had four fictitious bar staff on the payroll for six years between 2008 and 2014, so that he could reduce the amount of profits he declared and evade paying tax and National Insurance.
But O’Donnell, 52, was held over a barrel when he was arrested in April 2014 and £50,000 was seized during a search of the pub, later confiscated as the ‘proceeds of crime.’
The Irish national, living at St Agnes Place, Kennington, pleaded guilty to fraud at Southwark Crown Court on Monday and was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison, suspended two years, and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.