Builder and pub owner spared prison over £422,000 tax fraud

Bartley Murphy, 53, of Ardglass Road, Downpatrick, had his sentence of two years and three months suspended for three years.

The father of four, who owns Murphy’s bar in Downpatrick, had pleaded guilty to a single charge of cheating HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) out of taxes over an eight-year period.

Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Antrim, heard that Murphy had pleaded not guilty to the charge last November when the tax bill he faced stood at £1.2 million.

But Judge Brian Sherrard heard that when his defence team engaged the services of a forensic accountant, and with the agreement of HMRC, that figure was reduced by two-thirds to £422,142.10p.

Murphy was rearraigned in March and pleaded guilty to the single charge of cheating the Revenue on dates between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2015.

A cheque was lodged into court yesterday for the full amount owed which was result of the sale of his family home along with a £75,000 loan from brewers Bass.

Prosecution lawyer Sam Magee said that Murphy was a self-made builder who was liable to make self-assessment returns on his income tax to HMRC.

However, the lawyer told the court that during that period Murphy made either ‘nil returns’ or ‘no returns for self assessment’.

He told the judge that in 2014 HMRC wrote to Murphy on six occasions over an 11-month period but “Mr Murphy was unresponsive ... and did not play ball” during the civil process.

Mr Magee said that as a result, HMRC referred Murphy’s case to its internal Criminal Fraud Investigation Service who carried out what the court heard was an “intensely complex investigation’’.

The court heard Murphy was arrested in December 2015 and taken to Bangor PSNI station for questioning where he told tax investigators: “I have nothing to hide.’’

He told investigators that after the property crash in 2007, he “struggled to keep himself above ground’’, adding: “I am a good builder but poor with paperwork.’’

Mr Magee said Murphy had 48 previous criminal convictions, which included offences of low-level violence, one for receiving stolen goods and a number for “non compliance with statutory regulations’’.

Defence counsel Eugene Grant QC said Murphy presently worked as a £25,000-a-year contracts manager for a building company of which his wife Angela was a director, and it was currently building 30 homes in Downpatrick with the potential to build a further 50 homes in the south Down area.

The judge said Murphy had cheated HMRC over a lengthy period but described his offending as “unsophisticated”.

However, the judge said given his guilty plea and the effect Murphy’s immediate imprisonment would have on subcontractors building new homes for his firm, he would suspend the prison sentence.

Murphy was also fined £15,000.