A FORMER Redditch amateur football club manager has been jailed for eight years after stealing £1.3m in tax to spend on flash cars, holidays and Lego. 

Lee Hickinbottom, aged 49, formerly of Exhall Close, Redditch, now of Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, conspired with his 34-year-old former partner, Tabatha Knott, of Bennett Avenue, Dudley, to submit fraudulent VAT repayment claims to HM Revenue and Customs between 2014 and 2017.

With the stolen cash the pair enjoyed dream holidays and visited Disneyland, the Louvre in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York. They also spent hundreds of thousands of pounds buying and improving their home, which included splashing out more than £13,000 on a luxury hot tub that had to be installed with a crane.

Redditch Advertiser: Lee Hickinbottom and Tabatha Knott on holiday in New York. Photo: CPSLee Hickinbottom and Tabatha Knott on holiday in New York. Photo: CPS

Hickinbottom also spent more than £250,000 on luxury cars, £4,220 supporting Everton Football club, £18,847 on iTunes, £15,925 on Apple products and more than £1,500 on Lego.

In 2010, Hickinbottom admitted stealing more than £6,000 from a Lottery grant obtained by the Redditch Trades and Labour Club football team to buy equipment.

He was sentenced to 32 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work under a 12-month community order.

In the latest case, Hickinbottom submitted fraudulent VAT claims for his fabricated Solihull registered Serenity Community Transport business and provided false invoices.

Redditch Advertiser: High priced cars bought by Lee Hickinbottom from scams against the taxpayer. Photo: CPSHigh priced cars bought by Lee Hickinbottom from scams against the taxpayer. Photo: CPS

During a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, in December 2020, Hickinbottom pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming £28,000 of Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance between July 2013 and October 2016.  

Lee Hickinbottom and Tabatha Knott were found guilty of VAT fraud on 25 March 2022 following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Knott was also convicted of money laundering offences.  

Lee Hickinbottom was sentenced to eight years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on May 20, 2022.

Tabatha Knott was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years.