Shamed Capital reggae musician Finley Quaye is broke

SHAMED former reggae star Finley Quaye has been declared bankrupt after being hit with a tax bill for £383,000.

The 38-year-old Edinburgh-born singer faced the massive demand after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) went to court to recover the cash.

The fallen star was believed to have banked millions from album sales, but according to official documents Quaye now has zero assets.

Quaye failed to turn up for the hearing at the High Court of Justice in London.

An HMRC spokesman said: “We have no comment to make on individual cases.”

Earlier this month, Quaye escaped a prison sentence over a racially aggravated attack on Leith Walk. He had pleaded guilty to spitting in a woman’s face and hitting her on the head as she waited for a bus.

Quaye had approached the 36-year-old victim on October 8 last year and said “Do you know that this country is a racist country?” before launching the attack.

It was during the case that the first public signs of the singers’ money problems emerged, after his solicitor David Cairns told the court he had been put “in an awkward position by Mr Quaye” who had not paid his fee.

Quaye then said he planned to represent himself and asked if he could delay paying his solicitor as he was waiting on a money transfer coming through.

His troubles mounted when a warrant was put out for his arrest after he failed to appear for sentencing earlier this month, but despite this the reggae singer escaped a jail term at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The court also heard that Quaye had jetted off to Miami for a gig despite failing to make it to the Capital for his hearing.

Sheriff Fiona Reith QC put Quaye under supervision for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work within six months.

Quaye, who lives in London, had a successful career in the 1990s with songs such Even After All, Sunday Shining and Your Love Gets Sweeter and his debut album, Maverick A Strike, earned him the 1998 Brit Award for Best Male Solo Artist.

Quaye scooped the Best British Male Solo Artist gong in 1998 — a year after the release of debut album Maverick A Strike which sold more than a million copies.

He pocketed a £2 million advance for follow-up Vanguard, which flopped in the charts.

He has battled booze and drugs and in 1999 checked into London’s Priory clinic. While there, he began dating tragic TV presenter Paula Yates, who died from a heroin overdose in 2000.