Blundell jailed for tax fraud at First Floor

Raymond Blundell the former owner of the First Floor restaurant in London's Portobello Road has been jailed for four years for tax fraud.

Blundell, who faced one charge of cheat contrary to common law and two charges of offending against the Value Added Tax Act 1994, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court.

Pleading guilty to two of the three charges he was also ordered to pay £401,498 in the next 18 months.

It was alleged that Blundell cheated the Inland Revenue out of an estimated £439,189, between April 1987 and January 1996, by paying wages without deducting income tax and national insurance.

He ran the First Floor until December 1996 when he sold the lease.

He continued to own the freehold until the restaurant went into receivership a few weeks ago.