COMEDIAN Ken Dodd was wrongly portrayed as a ''Scrooge'' during his
tax fraud trial, the jury was told yesterday at Liverpool Crown Court.
The prosecution's claim during the three-week trial that he was some
sort of miser, was essentially flawed, Mr George Carman, QC, defending,
said in his closing speech.
''Scrooge was a man without a friend, a man suffering from meanness of
spirit,'' said Mr Carman. ''But, in the case of Ken Dodd, you have a man
of a most generous and free spirit.''
The jury is expected to be sent out today to consider its verdict on
Mr Dodd, 61, of Thomas Lane, Knotty Ash, Liverpool, who denies eight
charges involving tax fraud over a 15-year period.
Mr Justice Waterhouse told the jury of seven men and five women at the
start of his summing-up that no-one likes the Inland Revenue. ''Everyone
feels they should get the Inland Revenue off their backs. You may have
views about moonlighting and the black economy, but they are all
irrelevant to the case you have to consider,'' he said.
''You will have to appraise the evidence as representative of the
general public. It is a fundamental principle of English law that the
burden of truth is on the prosecution.''
The Judge said about Mr Dodd: ''It is clear that he is a very
hard-working man, a very skilled performer on the stage, who is involved
in many charitable works.
''Of course, that does not mean that inevitably he is not guilty. I
suppose it can be said that occasionally people of good character can
lapse from the high standards they set themselves.''
Earlier, Mr Carman accused the Inland Revenue of ''moving the
goalposts'' during the trial. He said this was because there had been no
mention of Mr Dodd's legitimate savings or ''bumped up'' expenses when
the prosecution case was opened.
However, tax officials later admitted under cross examination that Mr
Dodd could have legally saved #93,000 and unknowingly obtained more cash
through over-stated expenditure.
The court has heard how Mr Dodd hoarded #336,000 in cash at three of
his homes at one time. He later made ''cash and carry'' flights to the
Isle of Man and Jersey to deposit cash in 20 accounts without telling
the taxman.
Mr Dodd claimed he believed the money was not liable to UK tax because
it was invested offshore.
Mr Carman also said there was not a ''shadow of evidence'' that Mr
Dodd put cash in his pocket after performances. He added: ''The plain
hard fact for this prosecution not to come to terms with was that they
simply did not have the evidence that Mr Dodd ever took cash and did not
record it in his books.
''It lacks proof. It falls below what is required in a criminal court.
No doubt the Inland Revenue realised that, so they changed the
goalposts.''
He said Mr David Hartnett, a tax inspector, admitted in court that
#93,000 of the money taken offshore could have been lawful savings. He
also admitted that tens of thousands of pounds could have come from
over-stated expenditure.
''See how the goalposts are changed?'' added Mr Carman. ''Did you see
why the goalposts were changed? It was because evidence of the cash was
not available.''
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