Redknapp claims he lost millions in disastrous financial investments

FOOTBALL manager Harry Redknapp told police his home was at risk after he lost millions of pounds in disastrous financial investments, a court has heard.

The 64-year-old Tottenham Hotspur boss urged detectives to ask his solicitor if he had “ever come across anyone as bad, businesswise”.

He said he lost £6 million in a property venture in Southsea, Hampshire, and had squandered £250,000 to help his friend Jim Smith keep his managerial job at Oxford United.

Redknapp – tipped as a future England manager– also said he had paid £1m in tax in 2008, before adding: “We are givers, not takers.”

During interviews with City of London Police, Redknapp said: “I am not a tax fiddler, I am not any kind of tax fiddler, never have been in my life.”

Redknapp also told officers: “I have brought up a fantastic family.”

He said: “To try and nick a few quid off the income tax … why? I am not into that. I don’t need that. I would rather give you a hundred grand than nick a few quid off you.

“That’s how I live. I have got a golf day tomorrow … I give 15,000 tomorrow to Leukaemia Busters.”

Both Redknapp, of Poole, Dorset, and Milan Mandaric, from Oadby, Leicestershire, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue when Redknapp was manager of Portsmouth Football Club. Manadaric is a former chairman of the club.

The trial continues.