You can generally reclaim VAT on goods you bought up to 4 years before you registered for VAT and services you bought up to 6 months before you registered as long as the following conditions are met;
The goods were bought by you as the entity that is now registered for VAT
The goods are for your VAT taxable business purpose
The goods are still held by you or they have been used to make other goods you still hold
You cannot reclaim VAT on these goods;
Goods that you have completely used up before you registered for VAT (e.g. petrol, electricity or gas)
Goods that you have already sold or supplied before being VAT registered
Goods that relate to supplies you make that are exempt from VAT
In that case i do not understand how he could have claimed expenses if the goods are still inventory? if this was a mistake, then corrections could be made to the returns.