A tax dodging potato merchant has been jailed for two years and six months after being found guilty of a £160,000 VAT fraud.

Scott Coupland, 48, of Crieff, Perthshire, came under suspicion when he told HMRC he had sold more than £2m of potatoes in less than two months.

He was convicted by jury at Perth Sheriff Court of large-scale tax evasion after a four-day trial and sentenced on Wednesday.

The court heard Coupland had been paying private school tuition fees for two children and had defrauded the taxman to fund his lifestyle.

Sheriff William Wood said Coupland, who also worked as a retained firefighter, had made no attempt to pay back the money and had to go to jail despite his previous good character and service to the community.

Sheriff Wood said: "I take into account the fact your business was a legitimate one and I daresay claims were made to fund your lifestyle and continue your children's education.

"It should have been clear your business was failing. You had a somewhat cavalier approach to corporate accounting. This was a course of conduct in which you made seven false declarations over 21 months.

"You have shown no remorse or acceptance of culpability and made no offer of restitution until today. There was no reason for these claims to have been made.

"I appreciate the impact this will no doubt have on your family, but I will sentence you to two years and six months imprisonment. You bear sole responsibility for these offences."

Coupland made false VAT repayment claims to dupe the taxman out of £124,000 between March 2011 and June 2012.

He was caught when he tried to defraud HMRC of a further £37,000 between June and November 2012.

A tax official became suspicious because of the high sales figures Coupland was claiming.

HMRC launched an investigation and raided Coupland's home in a bid to see the company's records but Coupland repeatedly dodged meeting investigators.

The court was told the merchant cancelled several interviews at the last minute.

Coupland said on one occasion he was unable to meet the tax inspectors because he had been stranded on a business trip to sell seed potatoes in Nigeria.