A chartered accountant who cost his client over £25,000 in backdated tax and penalties by altering financial records was sentenced yesterday in the first case of its kind to appear in the Royal Court.

John Asplet was sentenced to 180 hours of community service and was ordered to compensate his client A&C Ventilation.

The 61-year-old was found guilty of recklessly providing false information to the tax authorities in June following a four-day Royal Court trial.

Asplet was said to have not personally benefited from his crime, and self-reported to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

While acting as an accountant for the local ventilation company, the GS Limited director submitted false accounting records to “substantially reduce” the amount of GST owed by his client.

The court heard that the chartered accountant did this without the knowledge of A&C Ventilation.

Crown Advocate Mike Preston, prosecuting, said that the director of the ventilation firm was “not a person who understood accounts and the intricacies of tax”, so A&C had “placed its faith and trust” in Asplet.

Advocate Preston said: “The defendant knew that he was in a position of trust, a position that he abused.”

But Advocate Giles Emmanuel, defending, pointed to “numerous” positive references and noted that their authors were in court to support the defendant.

Advocate Emmanuel also spoke of Asplet’s community involvement, explaining that he was previously the church warden at St Helier’s Town Church and a pilot driver for long-distance swims.

The case was the first of its kind to be heard and sentenced by the Royal Court, which decided to hand Asplet the equivalent of a year’s imprisonment in community service.

He was also ordered to compensate his client £26,887 at a rate of £500 a month – a rate which will be reviewed in court within the next four weeks.

The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, was presiding, with Lieutenant-Bailiff Robert Christensen and Jurat Elizabeth Dulake.

The court reserved its sentencing reasons, and said these would be handed down in writing at a later date.