A Grand National-winning racehorse trainer who was fined over £50,000 for failing to pay VAT has had the charge dramatically cut by a crown court judge.

Norman Mason was ordered to pay £54,000 by magistrates in December after accepting three of his companies had not paid £180,000 VAT between 1999 and 2002.

But after Mason appealed against the sentence during a hearing at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, Judge Esmond Faulks said the actual fine his firms should pay is just £12,000.

Defence barrister Geoff Knowles had told the judge, sitting with two magistrates, how the companies had been fined £3,000 for each charge they pleaded guilty to, making a total of £54,000.

But Mr Knowles said each company, which had pleaded guilty to six charges each, should only be fined a maximum of £5,000 per company. Mr Knowles said it was against normal procedure to fine each company for each charge it pleaded guilty to when they all relate to the same thing.

Judge Faulks accepted the submission and ordered each company to pay £4,000, making a total bill of £12,000.

Mason, 67, of High Street West, Sunderland, had pleaded guilty to 18 charges of failure to pay tax on behalf of his firms The Mason Organisation Ltd, Mason Entertainments Ltd and Mason Amusements Ltd.

At the time of his original trial Geoffrey Knowles, in mitigation, said Mason's amusement arcades business had already suffered by losing more than £3m because of publicity surrounding the case.

The racehorse owner did not appear in court in person today.

Mason found fame in 2001 when 33-1 shot Red Marauder romped to victory at Aintree. The self-made millionaire donated the Grand National trophy to his home city of Sunderland after the win.

Mr Knowles said since the companies went into administration in February 2003, the 500 strong workforce has been cut back to just over 100 and the one time £10m turnover has now been reduced to £3m.

Mason supports many charities in the city, and in 1994, donated £5,000 to help buy resuscitation equipment for the then-Sunderland General Hospital.

He has used money from his leisure interests to bankroll his love of racing, which developed after he was given a brood mare as payment for a debt more than 30 years ago.