A "greedy" businessman who defrauded the tax man of more than £2 million to help fund a lavish lifestyle has been jailed for six years.

Ben Richardson, 47, put some of the ill-gotten cash towards buying a luxury cottage near Deal, where he has been living with his wife, Dawn.

She also took part in some of the frauds, with the couple enjoying a "glamorous" way of living, including having expensive cars and horses.

Mrs Richardson wept as her husband was led away from the dock after being jailed on Monday morning.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Mr Richardson ran a series of failing construction companies for nine years and used them to defraud HMRC of more than £2 million by cheating on VAT returns and not paying tax.

He used £219,123 of the cash to help buy Ilex Cottage in Temple Way, Worth, which was previously run as a bed and breakfast.

The court heard that when the frauds with the companies SPR.UK, SPR Modula and Ilex Industries were discovered, Richardson tried to blame his accountant for the errors.

But he pleaded guilty on the fifth day of his trial to seven frauds, which netted him £2,177,246.

The judge, Recorder Edmund Burge KC, told him: "This was a deliberate and systematic attack on the public revenue. You exploited what you believed was a weakness because the HMRC trusted businesses and individuals to declare and pay the taxes they owed.

"Your motivation was greed as you wanted a more expensive and glamorous lifestyle than your legitimate income could provide and you used your various businesses as a mechanism to fund your lifestyle."

Mrs Richardson received a 17-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, a year after admitting five fraud charges, involving £708,212, and is also now subject to a four-month tagged curfew.

The 47-year-old, who was seen crying as her husband was led away after kissing the top of her head, now runs a dog grooming company.

Her website says: "I have seven dogs, four horses, three sheep, two pigs and one goat."

Mr Richardson's twin sister, Vickie Amas, of Linington Road, Birchington, received a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for a year, after she admitted allowing her bank account to be used to deposit cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime.

In a separate hearing, Michael Brown, 59, from Beverley, Yorkshire, received a 20-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was disqualified from being a company director for five years.

He was a director of one of Richardson's companies, Ilex Industries, and helped take £617,000 in the fraud, involving VAT, CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) and PAYE, and was convicted by a jury of four charges.

Judge Burge also commended the officers who helped bring Richardson to justice.

"It is right for me to acknowledge the gratitude and thanks, on behalf of the public, for the way this was investigated and the preparation was conducted," he said.

Speaking after the sentencing, Gurminder Sanghera, the legal Manager at the CPS, said: “Ben Richardson did all he could to evade paying his fair share to society through his control of these companies.

"He was determined to make as much money as he could to pay off his spiralling debts and fund his lifestyle and evaded paying more than £2m in tax.

“Evading taxation is not a victimless crime. The public rely on the revenue generated by tax to fund essential services, like the National Health Service and education. The dishonest evasion of VAT, income tax and National Insurance therefore impacts on us all.

“The CPS will now pursue confiscation proceedings in an effort to prevent these defendants enjoying the ongoing benefit of their criminal conduct.”