Pair in £12m VAT con spared jail term

A father and daughter from the Black Country who were involved in a £12 million VAT con have been spared an immediate stint behind bars.

Reginald Turner, former owner of The Rising Sun biker pub in Walsall and ex-president of Kavern Motor Cycle Club, was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

His daughter, single mother-of-two Tammy Copson, was given the same sentence at Bradford Crown Court on Monday. They were involved in a complicated fraud.

It was masterminded by Jayne Mitchell, who has already been locked up for 10 years.

The gang was involved in importing 7,000 cars sold through fake firms with a turnover of more than £80m in two years.

Turner, aged 62, of Broadway Well, Walsall, and Copson, 38, of Rowley Street, Walsall, became involved with 40-year-old Mitchell through family friend, Wayne Murden, 47, of Ablewell Street, Walsall.

Cars were imported VAT-free, passed through fake companies and sold to unsuspecting car dealerships in the UK. Many of the fake companies disappeared without paying VAT.

Turner was listed as director and Copson as company secretary of WFM Import Export Ltd, Pargeter Street, Walsall, and supplied 1,243 vehicles at a cost of £13,936,237 including VAT of £2,438,841.

Murden was listed as the director of Murway Automotive Sales and Leasing, in Wednesbury Road, which issued invoices to car firms for more than £3 million. Copson and Turner were also involved in this company, completing paperwork and carrying out cash withdrawals.

The gang members produced invoices for non-existent transactions and hundreds of thousands of pounds were transferred between personal and business bank accounts.

Revenue and Customs officials became suspicious after routine VAT visits.

All three Walsall defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. Murden was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, earlier this month.

Russell Bakewell, also 47, of Walsall Road, Landywood, Great Wyrley, was sentenced to 30 months behind bars for also being involved.