Millionaire killer who ran a car dealership before he brutally murdered his wife wins tax battle after £310,000 VAT claim from his prison cell – but will have to wait nine years before he’s eligible to spend it
- Ian Workman was jailed in 2011 for stabbing his wife in the heart in a divorce row
- He killed her to avoid paying her half of his fortune and he was sentenced to life
- However, Workman has now won a tax battle after making a £310,000 VAT claim
- Though judge ruled in his favour, he is not expected to be given the full amount, which has yet to be determined
A millionaire car dealer serving life in prison for brutally murdering his wife in the middle of a bitter divorce row has won a £310,000 tax battle from his jail cell.
Ian Workman, 64, who built up the IGW Group in Bolton and Blackburn over nearly 30 years, is serving a life sentence after stabbing his wife Sue through the heart at their luxury home in April 2011.
He killed her during a divorce row to avoid paying her half of his fortune and is not eligible for release until May 2029 at the earliest.
But the businessman has now potentially won hundreds of thousands of pounds in a tax rebate after he lodged a VAT claim against HM Revenue and Customs, giving evidence to a tribunal via video link.
Though the judge ruled in his favour, Workman is not expected to get the full amount, with his reward yet to be determined.
Millionaire car dealer Ian Workman, 64, was jailed for life in 2011 for murdering his wife. He had built up the IGW Group in Bolton and Blackburn over nearly 30 years
Workman insisted he was owed the money in overpayments, citing case law covering motor traders being incorrectly charged VAT by HM Revenue and Customs on demonstrator vehicles, for employees and directors, or courtesy or hire cars.
He claimed he was owed the money on 316 cars used by his company between 1979 and 1996 – while HMRC argued only 76 vehicles were affected.
Judge Jonathan Cannan ruled that 111 cars from Workman’s business would have been eligible under the claim, when the business was at its peak in 1994-95.
He told the tribunal his figures were based on the vehicles being replaced three times a year, and not four, as Workman had contended, and he could not follow why 30 courtesy vehicles were required for the bodyshop so reduced that figure to 15.
Workman (left) killed Sue (right) during a divorce row to avoid paying her half of his fortune and is not eligible for release until May 2029 at the earliest
Judge Cannan added: ‘I am satisfied that Mr Workman was very knowledgeable about the business generally. That is to be expected, as he was the driving force behind IGW Group.’
The case is not the first time Workman has been embroiled in legal proceedings since his 2011 incarceration.
Three years ago he was ordered to pay two of his sons, Ben and Nicholas, £1.5million after he had killed their mother during a divorce row to avoid paying her half of his fortune.
She was in the process of divorcing the successful car dealer and, had she lived, would have been been entitled to an equal share of everything.
If allowed to keep the cash, he would have ‘profited’ from killing their mother with a single stab wound to the heart, the brothers said.