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    ‘Top footballer’ fighting costly legal battle with tax chiefs to keep his identity secret set to be named in weeks

    A HIGH-profile figure fighting a costly legal battle with tax officials in a bid to keep his name secret is thought to be a top footballer.He has spent an estimated £50,000 protecting his anonymity — and probably hundreds of thousands on costs for the whole case.
    A high-profile figure is fighting a costly legal battle with tax bossesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
    The person in question is thought to be a ‘top footballer’Credit: Getty
    It is not known how much of a potential tax bill he is trying to fight off but it is likely to be hundreds of thousands more.
    But he is set to be named in the next two weeks after High Court judges ruled this month it was “highly unusual” to allow his identity to be concealed.
    Tax experts believe he is a footballer or ex-player because he has apparently been involved in more than once tax avoidance scheme.
    Many aces were advised to invest in such vehicles that HMRC later cracked down on.
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    Football stars also often set up companies to receive image rights money, which is then liable for corporation tax at a lower rate than income tax.
    The wrangle began in 2019 when the star appealed to the First Tier Tribunal “tax court” about deductions HMRC denied him for income tax purposes.
    He then applied for anonymity at a hearing in July 2021.
    That September, the FTT said the preliminary proceedings should be heard in secret to protect his private or family life and keep “sensitive information” out of the public domain.
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    HMRC appealed, arguing that the FTT decision “erred in law”.
    Now High Court Upper Tax Tribunal judges have ruled the star should be named.
    Dan Neidle, founder of think tank Tax Policy Associates, said: “Tax appeals are almost always public, so it is outrageous someone is trying to fight HMRC behind closed doors.
    “And our best guess is it’s a footballer or ex-footballer.” More

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    QPR star Ilias Chair faces calls for two years in jail after ‘smashing lorry driver’s skull with a rock’

    PROSECUTORS have called for QPR star Ilias Chair to be jailed for two years after he was accused of smashing a lorry driver’s skull with a rock.A court heard a trucker suffered life-threatening injuries in a brawl.
    Ilias Chair denies the allegations following an alleged flare-up
    The allegations relate to an incident in Bazeilles, northern France, as the driver Niels T waited with his family for a coach back to Belgium after a kayaking trip in the summer of 2020.
    Morocco midfielder Chair, 26, denies the assault charge – with his lawyers claiming Niels T was out to make money from the footballer.
    Prosecutors in the Antwerp-born player’s home town say he and two friends got into an argument with the trucker.
    Antwerp’s public prosecutor said: “According to many people involved, Ilias Chair lashed out at Niels T with a stone and knocked him unconscious.
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    “The consequences were dramatic for Niels T. He suffered a severe skull fracture, two centimetres long, and was taken to hospital at Reims in critical condition.
    “Afterwards he had to recover for a long time in a Belgian hospital, and could not do his job as a lorry driver for a long time.
    “The blow was almost fatal for him, and he still feels the after-effects.”
    The prosecutor asked for Chair to be jailed for two years and fined £1,400, as well as calling for lesser sentences for his friends Nora H. and Jaber C.
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    Chair’s lawyer Alen Cilic told the hearing there was insufficient proof the ex-Stevenage loanee had caused the trucker’s injuries.
    He said Niels T and his family started the brawl and were trying to make money from the 12-cap ace.
    The lawyer for Nials T responded: “That is nonsense. We want damages of 16,000 euros, which is only about a week’s pay for Mr Chair.
    “My client almost lost his life, and it took surgeons to save him.
    “He was unable to work for a long time, and still suffers adverse reactions every day to having been hit with a rock.”
    The case continues.
    Chair is one of QPR’s key men in their fight to avoid relegation from the Championship.
    He’s made over 220 appearances for the Londoners, scoring 30 goals, since arriving from Belgians Lierse in 2017. More

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    Ex-Celtic & Rangers starlet Ciaran Dickson downed pints of high-strength VENOM before mowing down teen at 70mph

    A FORMER Celtic and Rangers starlet downed pints of high-strength VENOM on a boozy pub crawl before mowing down a teenager in a horror hit-and-run.Ciaran Dickson, 22, fatally hit Aidan Pilkington, 18, in the Anniesland area of Glasgow before fleeing the scene on foot on September 11, 2021.
    Ciaran Dickson pled guilty to causing death by dangerous drivingCredit: Spindrift
    The footie starlet killed teenager Aidan PilkingtonCredit: PA
    Map of Dickson’s locations before fatal crash
    Dickson pled guilty today at the High Court in Glasgow to causing death by dangerous driving after Aidan suffered significant head injuries which he succumbed to later in hospital.
    The ex-Celtic B team player raced down the road at a speed between 64 and 71mph while three times over the limit when he struck Aidan.
    In court it emerged the footie youngster consumed several drinks – including the potent cocktail called Venom – before getting behind the wheel and killing his teenage victim.
    The former Rangers youth player was on a boozy night out with a friend and drank a pint of lager and a bottle of Corona at the Duck Bay Marina in Loch Lomond.

    He then got behind the wheel and drove to a pool club in Glasgow city centre.
    CCTV showed that Dickson then consumed a further two pints of lager before driving to The Black Horse bar.
    While he was there, he downed three pints of the strong cocktail venom – which was topped up with an extra measure of vodka.
    The Venom cocktail is popular with young party-goers and pub revellers due to its high alcohol content. It is made by mixing vodka, Southern Comfort and orange juice, before adding in a blue WKD to create a bright green colour.
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    Aidan was on a night out with school friends at the time and left the bar at around 11.30pm.
    He was heading to a friend’s house when Dickson hit him on Crow Raod at around midnight.
    Dickson, now of Erskine, Renfrewshire, then dragged Aidan along the ground, causing significant head injuries.
    Dickson, who was employed by Celtic’s B team at the time of the offence, then fled the scene at around 50 to 70 miles per hour.
    He then abandoned his rented Mercedes car and ran 178 metres back to his home – which was discovered by police who seized his fitness watch.
    Aidan’s friend Ben Smith recalled seeing a vehicle a “distance away” and believed there was enough time to cross the road. Aidan followed behind him.
    Prosecutor John Keenan KC said: “Mr Smith was walking within the two lanes when he realised the car was getting closer, faster than he expected.
    “He could not estimate the speed of the vehicle, but it caused him to ‘quicken up’.
    “He was halfway into the lane when he turned around to see if Aidan was following.
    “He observed that Aidan was halfway into the nearside lane of the road.”
    Mr Smith stated that a white car struck Aidan, who was about to start university, when he was positioned between the two lanes.
    He added that he did not remember Aidan being run over by the car but to “have travelled for around 10 to 15 metres with the car.”
    Other witnesses described hearing a loud bang and a thud as well as seeing Aidan on the ground.
    He was noted to be unconscious with blood coming from his mouth and ears.
    Aidan was also found to have an exposed fractured skull, very shallow breathing and CPR was carried out at the scene by medics.
    Aidan was taken to hospital where he remained unresponsive and was tragically pronounced dead at 1.55am.
    Police noticed the damage that was done to the Mercedes – including a missing badge.
    Dickson handed himself into police the next day and he was released pending and investigation.
    He gave a no comment interview to officers in February 2022 and on June he was finally arrested.
    A post-mortem examination was carried out which revealed major external injuries to Aidan’s head and trunk.
    Aidan suffered bruising and wounds to his forehead, scalp, eye and cheek.
    There was also a full-thickness wound to the back of his head surrounded by bruising.
    Mr Keenan added: “Pathologists considered that the injuries to the front and back of the head were consistent with a run over or dragging type scenario.”
    Further injuries included to the abdomen and pelvis as well as a number of rib fractures.
    An internal examination revealed a large skull fracture which was associated with a small amount of bleeding on the surface of the brain.
    Pathologists considered that a brain injury might be responsible for the “very rapid death.”
    Mr Keenan said: “The major cause of death is considered to be severe head injury which is consistent with being sustained as a result of road traffic collision.”
    It was also suggested that Aidan was not standing at the time of the collision. It is not known if he slipped or fell.
    Thomas Ross KC, defending, said: “Nothing said by Ciaran Dickson can offer comfort to Aidan’s family and friends.
    “He recognises that he is fully deserving of a sentence of imprisonment.”
    Dickson’s previous convictions include careless driving from December 2020 when he was hit with three penalty points.
    He was also convicted of a domestic pattern in April 2023 when he was ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.
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    Dickson – who was tipped for first-team football – was released by Celtic having scored two goals in his first two appearances for the B team.
    Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by Judge Lord Colbeck who remanded Dickson in custody meantime.
    He played for Celtic’s B team at the time of the offenceCredit: SNS
    He played for Rangers before joining CelticCredit: The Sun More

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    Eni Aluko ‘flees the UK’ fearing her safety after Joey Barton’s sexist rants as she & Lucy Ward ‘take legal action’

    ENI Aluko says she has fled the country out of fear after Joey Barton’s sexist rants.Barton, 41, sparked fury earlier this month when he took aim at pundits Aluko and Lucy Ward, dubbing them “the Fred and Rose West of football commentary”.
    Barton compared female commentator Eni Aluko to a serial killerCredit: PA
    Aluko claims to have fled the UK after the sexist tiradeCredit: Instagram
    Joey Barton has made repeated claims that women should not commentate on men’s footballCredit: PA
    Fred and Rose West were two of Britain’s worst serial killers.
    Barton made the comparison as he questioned their legitimacy as pundits after they covered Crystal Palace’s FA Cup draw with Everton.
    But instead apologising after backlash, the ex-Manchester City footballer launched another foul-mouthed tirade, likening Aluko to communist dictators Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.
    Now, Aluko has revealed she has left the UK fearing for her safety after being bombarded by online abuse, in a 15-minute video posted on her Instagram account.
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    The star said she had not left her house until Friday but is “now abroad” after feeling “genuinely scared”.
    The post also included a stark warning that the online abuse of women working in football was in real danger of ending in tragedy.
    She wrote: “I’ve genuinely been scared this week. I didn’t leave my house until Friday, and I’m now abroad.
    “Because it’s really important to say that online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how safe you feel in real life. I felt under threat this week. I felt like something was going to happen to me.”
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    The former England striker also suggested she is taking legal action following Barton’s disgusting rants.
    She continued: “If you come out and are racist, or sexist or misogynistic and threaten people online, there are laws for that and that govern that behaviour. It’s not free. It’s not freedom of consequences, either.
    “There are consequences for that. And over the past week I’ve taken advice from lawyers and a course of action has now been decided upon.”
    The former England striker did not mention Barton by name but branded him the “loudest critic right now, who used to play for Man City”.
    Fellow pundit Ward is also set to take legal action over the disgraceful posts, according to the Telegraph.
    Barton was already facing Government and legal action over his “dangerous” posts on X, with Stuart Andrew, the sports minister, last week announcing he would “look at” what could be done about the former footballer’s rants about women.
    While Barton’s rants appear an attempt to gain publicity ahead of the launch of his podcast, Mr Andrew insisted he must be held accountable. 
    He said: “These are dangerous comments that open the floodgates for abuse and that’s not acceptable,’ Andrew said at a Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee.
    “I’m slightly wary that these sort of people want the oxygen and I don’t want to fuel that.”
    Barton was called out on social media by the likes of Laura Woods, Bianca Westwood and Piers Morgan as well as thousands of fans following his controversial comments.
    And ITV Sport also hit back at Barton in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
    The ITV post said: “For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our pundits, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive remarks based on gender and to invoke the names of serial killers in doing so is clearly contemptible and shameful on his part.”
    Gary Neville backed the statement of ITV, his former employer, in a post on X.
    But Barton threatened the former Manchester United star saying he would “get emptied”.
    Barton then responded to ITV’s post with a foul-mouthed tirade.
    He wrote: “Shut up you f***ing idiots. Keep them off the telly. They’re ruining the game for everyone of us.
    “It’s what happens when you force under qualified, under prepared, tokenistic people onto us.
    “I will be calling them all serial killers from now on.”
    He then doubled down on his remarks, including likening Aluko to dictators Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.
    Stalin was the supreme ruler of the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century, including throughout World War II and is known for his totalitarian communist regime.
    Pol Pot, meanwhile, was another communist dictator who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea in the 70s.
    And on January 7 he then continued on his sexist rant against women footballing pundits with another vile accusation.
    The former Bristol Rovers manager alleged the experienced stars have used “pillow talk” and their “sexuality to get an advantage”.
    The post, on X, formerly Twitter, made several sexist accusations at unnamed women pundits.
    “We all know whose marriages you have violated. What info you got from the pillow talk to get ahead…”
    “I also, don’t blame you using your sexuality to get an advantage. It’s a big tool and everyone should use all there tools wisely in the game of life.”
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    Barton is one of football’s most controversial characters, and served time in prison in 2008 for assault.
    He was sacked as Bristol Rovers manager in October, weeks after fans slammed him for “throwing his own player under the bus.”
    Lucy Ward is reportedly now taking legal action along with AlukoCredit: Getty More

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    Chris Eubank Snr’s youngest son Joseph, 27, appears in court charged with raping teen girl near Brighton Pier

    CHRIS Eubank Snr’s youngest son has appeared in court charged with raping a teen girl near Brighton Pier.Joseph Eubank, 27, is accused of attacking the alleged victim in the seaside town in July 2022.
    Joseph Eubank appeared at court today
    Eubank, left, with his boxer dad and brother Chris JrCredit: Twitter
    He appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court today charged with two counts of raping a woman aged under 18.
    Eubank, the youngest son of boxing legend Chris, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
    He was released on conditional bail to next appear at Lewes Crown Court next month.
    District Judge Richard Hawgood told him: “I’m sending your case for these two charges to the Crown Court at Lewes for trial.
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    “These are matters which can only be dealt with at crown court due to the nature and seriousness of these allegations.”
    A police investigation was launched after the teen alleged she was raped near the pier on July 16, 2022.
    She was supported by specialist officers while Eubank was arrested and later charged.
    Chris Eubank Sr held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995.
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    Joseph Eubank’s brother Chris Jr is also a professional boxer and has fought the likes of Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves.
    Eubank was released on conditional bailCredit: Brighton Pictures More

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    Disgraced former Premier League star ‘facing jail’ after admitting match fixing and accepting bribes

    FORMER Everton midfielder Li Tie is facing a lengthy jail term after being charged with a series of bribery offences.The 46-year-old was accused of “serious violations of the law” by state prosecutors in China last year.
    Former Everton midfielder Li Tie is facing jailCredit: Getty
    He was also held in a detention centre, according to Chinese media.
    A statement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate read: “Li Tie, the former head coach of the Chinese national men’s football team, was suspected of accepting bribes, offering bribes, offering bribes at the unit, accepting bribes of non-state employees, and offering bribes to non-state employees.
    “The investigation was completed by the Chibi City Supervision Committee and Chibi Public Security Bureau of Hubei province. The investigation was completed and transferred.”
    The charges are part of a wider government crackdown on alleged corruption in Chinese football.
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    Last year, senior executives at the Chinese Football Association, including secretary general Liu Yi and deputy secretary general Chen Yongliang, were investigated over “severe violations of the law”.
    CFA president Chen Xuyuan and Shandong Taishan midfielder Son Jun-ho were also investigated.
    Li Tie joined Everton on an initial season-long loan from Liaoning FC in 2002 before eventually joining the Toffees in a permanent transfer the following year.
    He then signed for Sheffield United in 2006 and spent three years at Bramall Lane.
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    The midfielder went on to play for Chengdu Blades and Liaoning before retiring and turning to management.
    He took charge of the China national team from 2019 to 2021. More

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    Ex-England ace Emile Heskey facing bankruptcy in latest battle with taxman

    FORMER England star Emile Heskey was facing bankruptcy last night in his latest battle with the taxman.The ex-Liverpool striker — whose net worth was estimated at £12million in 2009 — has had financial woes since joining a celebrity investment scheme now at the centre of a £1.6billion tax dispute.
    Emile Heskey is facing bankruptcy in his latest battle with the taxmanCredit: Getty
    The former England star has had financial woes since joining a celebrity investment schemeCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
    He has been hit with a High Court bankruptcy petition filed by HMRC — setting off alarms for a string of VIPs.
    Dad-of-six Heskey, 45, was last year found to have defaulted on £92,000 of tax while working as a football development officer between 2017 and 2020.
    He was handed a £42,000 penalty.
    Meanwhile, the trendy bar he ran with wife Chantelle in posh Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was wound up by the courts with £163,000 of debts.
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    It was unclear whether the court case arrears were related to the investment scheme or his business flop.
    Heskey has recently been involved in the running of Leicester City’s women’s team and supporting the England under-18s squad.
    The tax scheme was among those run by Ingenious Media, a financing company which funded more than 60 movies.
    David Beckham, Ant and Dec and Robbie Williams are among the famous names who pumped in cash, with a minimum £50,000 stake required.
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    Clients were said to have been able to claim tax relief against most of their payment.
    Other stars linked to the scheme included Liverpool greats Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and ex-Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman.
    Gerrard and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber were among investors reported in 2019 to be suing HSBC for “dishonestly assisting” Ingenious Media.
    Take That singers Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen have already repaid £20million.
    They insisted they had paid significant tax and believed the investments were legitimate enterprises.
    But Barlow later admitting it was “the stupidest thing I have ever done”.
    HMRC and Heskey were approached for comment. More

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    Sunderland star Jack Diamond weeps in the dock as he’s cleared of rape

    A FOOTIE star wept in the dock today after he was cleared of rape.Jack Diamond, 23, put his head in his hands after a jury found him not guilty in 15 minutes.
    Sunderland footballer Jack Diamond told Newcastle crown court there was consensual sexual activity at his home in 2022Credit: NNP
    Diamond denied rape and assault by penetration at Newcastle crown courtCredit: Getty
    The Sunderland winger had denied attacking the woman at his home.
    His trial heard the pair were “friends with benefits” after meeting on the dating app Tinder.
    Diamond told Newcastle crown court there was consensual sexual activity at his home in 2022.
    He said he then told the woman he did not think sex was a “good idea” and explained to the jury this was because he feared things “getting a bit too serious”.
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    He said after being rejected, the woman turned away from him in bed and appeared to be in a “huff”.
     Eleanor Laws KC, defending, said: “He is not on trial for being immature . . . for misreading signals about whether he hurt someone.”
    Outside court Diamond, of Washington, Tyne & Wear, insisted: “The last 18 months have been hugely challenging.
    “I now look forward to resuming my career.”
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    Diamond was on loan with Lincoln City last season but the deal was terminated after he was charged, and Sunderland suspended him. More