A PLUMBER who evaded £112,000 of tax has been handed a four-month suspended jail sentence.

Peter Mack, 59, failed to declare earnings from his plumbing and heating business and failed to register for VAT while paying no income tax and national insurance.

Mack, who was arrested by HM Revenue and Customs investigators at his home in Jubilee Close, Ringwood, pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges relating to his PDM Gas Services business between January 2004 and January 2011. Prosecutor Tim Moores said a ‘nominal’ assessment of £40,000 in unpaid taxes had been agreed as part of Mack’s plea but added further unpaid taxes would be sought through the civil courts.

HMRC said its detailed inquiries revealed that over a 14-year period dating back to 1997, Mack evaded around £88,000 of income tax and VAT, which including interest, brought the total to £112,000. Mack has already paid back £40,000.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Mack set up his business after being made redundant from British Gas in the late 1990s.

Tom Horder, defending Mack, said he had not set out to defraud the taxman but had ignored sorting out his tax affairs as the business grew and he had been busy looking after his sick father-in-law and elderly mother.

Recorder Richard Onslow gave him a four-month sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered him to do 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,800.