By RUTH STAINER, REPORTER and JADA BAS, REPORTER Published: 12:49 BST, 22 September 2025 | Updated: 12:54 BST, 22 September 2025
An award-winning farmer who was jailed for conning HMRC out of £1.8million has now been ordered to repay a huge sum of what he swindled. Jack Stilwell, who once featured on BBC Countryfile after crowdfunding to pay for his farm, was jailed for two and a half years after attempting to rip off HMRC by submitting fraudulent VAT claims. The 34-year-old, from Hampshire, had risen to international prominence in the farming world with his pioneering business model, even being crowned Young Farmer of the Year in 2015. But the disgraced farmer faced accusations by HMRC of 'refusing to play by the rules', carrying out his fraudulent offences across three of his agricultural businesses, which took place between November 2021 and July 2022.At a sentencing hearing in April, Stilwell, from Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, admitted three counts of furnishing false returns of VAT.But a judge has only ordered him to pay back just nine per cent of the money, coming to £149,205. Judge James Newton-Price said that 18 months would be appropriate for Stilwell to pay, however his defence barrister, Akhtar Ahmad, said that he only needed three.At the sentencing hearing in April, HMRC, which prosecuted Stilwell, said it carried out a probe following his offences. Jack Stilwell, 34, from Hampshire, was jailed for conning HMRC out of £1.8million and has now been ordered to repay a huge sum of what he swindled The 34-year-old was previously awarded Young Farmer of the Year (pictured at ceremony) and appeared on BBC CountryfileIt was said at the time that Stilwell's first offence included 20 false VAT statements on behalf of Roundstone Beef Ltd, totalling £1,278,277.13.The second conviction involved a single false VAT statement submitted in July 2022 for Greenwell Farms Ltd in which he claimed £37,621.The third charge related to eight false statements submitted on behalf of Greenwell Holdings Ltd, amounting to £568,345.66.It comes after the farming prodigy set up his own beef farming business using money from the public via an industry-first crowdfunding campaign.In his final year of study at Harper Adams University in 2015 when he was just 23 he set up a crowdfunder to raise £4,000 to buy beef cattle and rent land.His business flourished and grew to include over 200 Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle, split across a number of farms. A judge has only ordered him to pay back just nine per cent of the money, coming to £149,205It was a campaign that 'caught the attention of the agricultural press and farmers across the world', the university proudly declared on its website.A spokesperson for HMRC said: 'Tax fraud is not a victimless crime.'The tax we all pay helps to fund the public services we rely on. The majority pay the tax that is due, but a determined minority refuse to play by the rules.'We are determined to create a level playing field to allow honest businesses to thrive and we encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online.'
