Lance Johns, from Hull, was jailed for three years over a £378,300 VAT refund scam, which resulted in fraudulent claims for more than £158,300 in VAT payments channelled through three businesses.

He admitted four offences at Hull Crown Court, including three of cheating the public revenue and another of transferring criminal property between February 2018 and August 2019.

Starting in 2018, Johns claimed VAT totalling £378,303, and HMRC paid £158,330 before suspicions were raised.

The VAT claims were the result of creating false businesses and artificially inflating the tax paid, causing the false VAT returns to be repaid.