Darts icon Mervyn King has been declared bankrupt after owing HMRC ‘north of £500,000’ (Image: GETTY)
Ex-darts star Mervyn King has been declared bankrupt after owing ‘north of £500,000’. The 58-year-old reached the BDO World Championship final at Lakeside in 2002 and 2004 but failed to get his hands on the top prize after losing to Tony David and Andy Fordham respectively.
King was made insolvent during a trip to the High Court of Justice in London last Tuesday after his debts mounted up over a 20-year period. And he and his wife Tracey are now concerned they will lose their home and their dogs.
The former thrower told : “I hid my head in the sand. Tracey is worried that we’re going to lose the house. But if we do, we do.
“There’s nothing I can do about that. It’s all down to the official receiver and what he wants to do. I’ll have to deal with him fairly and honestly – so anything he wants to know, he can have. I made the move to contact them. I knew this was coming.
“It was better than them finding me and saying, ‘Excuse us Mr King, why haven’t you paid tax for 20 years?’ Because I think I’d have been straight inside.
“Now it’s all going to be cleared one way or another – whether I lose everything and the house goes. If it does, then at least it’s back to square one and I’ll start again.”
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Mervyn King lost to Andy Fordham in the BDO World Championship final at Lakeside in 2004 (Image: GETTY)
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King and his wife have a Pyrenean mountain dog, a Pyrenees-Newfoundland cross and a golden retriever.
And turning his attention to his beloved pets, he explained: “The dogs are a worry. If they take the house, we’re going to have to find somewhere to live. We’ll have to take the dogs with us.
“Over the past four or five years, I haven’t slept a lot at night, worrying about this. The trouble is you think the gravy train will last forever and it doesn’t. I cannot turn back time, unfortunately.”
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King then sent a message to young players in the game today as he added: “It’s trying to help others so they don’t end up in this position. It’s not a place to be, trust me. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.
“I want to hopefully try to help any up-and-coming youngsters so they don’t end up in the same predicament as I did. If I can help one youngster, then it’s worth doing.
“My message is, ‘Don’t do what I did. Don’t hide your head in the sand when you realise you’re in a bit of a slump with .’”