Christopher Wilkins was handed a 21-month prison sentence by Taunton Crown Court on 12 January 2022 after he was found guilty of tax fraud by understating his income and inflating his expenses to avoid £98,732 in VAT.

Wilkins of West Sussex worked as a solicitor since 1989 and was called to the bar in 1993 where he practised until 2005. Wilkins then returned in 2011 practising as self-employed and specialising in financial services and insolvency.

In May 2012, Wilkins began to under-declare his income and submitted false VAT returns to HMRC in order to pay the private school fees for his children which were £5,000 a month.

At this time Wilkins had already accumulated substantial debt as a result of a failed investment in overseas property that coincided with the crash of 2008.