Parole
Mr Hening's offence was committed before April 2005. He is now serving sentences totalling 24 years.
My understanding is that he will become eligible for release into the community at the earliest after serving half of his sentence in prison (i.e. 12 years) and will be sure of release no later than two-thirds of the way through (i.e. 16 years). He will be liable for return to prison at any time during the remainder of his sentence upon certain events (such as conviction of another offence).
If he does not pay the £40 million it remains due on his release from prison (but he will not be subject to return to prison merely for continued failure to pay).
Mr Hening was disqualified from acting as a company director, or in the promotion or management of a company, until December 2021 (i.e. for 15 years from the date of his conviction in December 2006).
Being a foreign national Mr Hening will be subject to deportation (but whether you consider that a punishment or a benefit is another matter!).
David
Trousering
I do not think Mr Hening will himself have 'trousered' £54 million or even £40 million, since he will have incurred some expenses along the way and, whilst he was believed to be a key player, he was by no means the only individual who was involved in the fraud and who would expect to get a share of the windfall.
His 'benefit' figure would be based on the gross receipts of the conspiracy insofar as he obtained them individually or jointly with others.
But no doubt he was well rewarded for his efforts!
Of course it would have saved the Crown a lot of bother if it had not dished out the VAT refunds to the fraudsters in the first place - doh!
David
DW not sure i agree on time served
as you say they are at present difference sentences - suspended & consecutive ones rather than concurrent we agree on that i think.
the 15 year will be dealt with first surely as you say along the lines of
as per http://www.pffs.org.uk/uploads/Sentence_calculation2.pdf
however i would be surprised if the second term would not be challenged ifirst in Supreme Court and if necessary n ECHR
anyway it may all change again and he will get out early
Default sentences
Default sentences for failure to pay a fine or other criminal court order made as part of the sentencing process (which a confiscation default sentence is) are fairly standard and have been around for a long time (i.e. decades).
The current legislation is in the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, and particularly s139 & 140 of that Act. These sections are applied to confiscation orders by s35 & 36 PoCA 2002 (in England & Wales).
I am not aware of any challenges to the legality of the imposition of a default sentence in these circumstances (although there have been plenty of appeals against the length of default sentences imposed in individual cases).
There is a statutory maximum default term of 10 years for amounts in excess of £1 million. In Mr Hening's case the amount very significantly exceeded £1 million and a default term of 9 years - less than the maximum - was imposed.
David
there wasa recently reported case that you know better then me
where a confiscation order had been made but the chap couldnt pay it - i think it was held in camera - and something strange resulted - am i correct?
News to me
I don't know of any confiscation cases held in camera.
David
he will do 5 years if that
so how mega is that for 54 mill