Former Aston Villa striker John Carew sent to prison for 14 months

Former Aston Villa striker John Carew has been sentenced to 14 months in jail for tax evasion.

The 43-year-old, who also represented West Ham and Stoke City, has also been fined £45,000 in his native Norway over fraud crimes worth a sum in the region of £450,000. The court could have doubled Carew's sentence if it found he had intentionally avoided paying tax.

The former target man, who scored 38 Premier League goals and 24 for his country, pleaded guilty to fraud charges brought against him by the Norwegian tax authority. His lawyer, Berit Reiss-Andersen, argued proceedings should have been dealt with as a confession case because the defendant had confessed to tax evasion while insisting it was unintentional.

Reiss-Anderson released a statement after the ruling suggesting a sentence of one year and two months in jail should be viewed as a victory. She said, per Norwegian outlet E24: "This shows that John Carew is believed on all counts. The court has concluded that he has acted grossly negligently, but not with intent. We have claimed this all along, and Carew has been clear that he has wanted to make amends."

Carew started his career in his homeland with Valerenga before joining Rosenborg in 1999. His form in the Tippeligaen earned him a move to Valencia, with whom he won La Liga in 2001/02, one season after the Spanish side lost to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

What are your memories of John Carew in the Premier League? Have your say in the comments.

After short stints with Roma and Besiktas, Carew spent two seasons with Lyon, winning Ligue 1 in the 2005/06 campaign, before spending four-and-a-half years with Villa. He collected further runners-up medals in the League Cup final in 2010 with the Villains and the FA Cup with Stoke the following year.

The final season of his 15-year career came with West Ham, during which he helped the Irons achieve promotion to the Premier League via the Championship Play-Offs.

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