A Walton con artist who tried to steal £47,000 in fake VAT repayments has been jailed.

John Patrick Cahill, 52, of Devoke Way, Walton, claimed to trade as an energy efficiency inspector for Thomas Bradley Limited, registered in Lansdowne Road, Mayfair, London.

He submitted fraudulent VAT returns claiming £237,000 of business expenses at the 20 per cent VAT rate between January 2011 and 2012.

Revenue and customs officials discovered he made no sales during this period, found his business address was a mail-drop service and the expenses were made up or not business-related.

Cahill pleaded guilty to five counts of furnishing a false VAT return with the intent to deceive.

He was jailed for 12 months, with each count running concurrently, and disqualified from being a company director for seven years, at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, May 16.

His Honour Judge Pontius said: “Countless businesses honestly complete their tax returns and pay their taxes each year. “You deliberately set out not to do so. This sentence is to deter others from doing the same.”

Revenue and customs paid out £27,225.71 to Cahill that will be recovered.

Assistant director of criminal investigation Peter Millroy said: “This was a blatant repayment fraud set up to steal from HMRC and the wider tax-paying public.

“Our message is clear - if you choose to defraud the tax system and pursue this type of crime, we will track you down.”

Anyone with information about people who may be involved in tax fraud can contact the tax evasion hotline on 0800 788887.