Roger Bryant, 73, from Barnstaple was found guilty of laundering money from the National Trust into his two sons' account for work that was never completed.

In total 148 invoices were submitted for more than £1m from James Bryant, 49 and Scott Bryant, 38, who were both sentenced on 20 September.

In 2013 someone from the National Trust identified a company linked to Roger’s son James who was the biggest supplier to the National Trust in Barnstable, however, the managers had never heard of the company. Roger was confronted by his co-workers where he stated the company was legitimate.

From here National Trust staff began to investigate the invoices and visited the sites of the jobs to see if the work was being done. After there was found to be no work taking place Roger was suspended from the National Trust and reported to the police.