A Fife fisheries boss who defrauded the public purse of almost £500,000 has been jailed for two years and eight months.

John Fleming, owner of Anstruther based ICS Fisheries Ltd, fabricated invoices from a haulage company, allowing him to reclaim VAT on expenses he never incurred.

As a result he pocketed £489,341.48 but when confronted he denied the "unrealistic" and "exorbitant" claims were a fraud and insisted they were genuine.

However, when bosses at the haulage firm whose invoices he had forged were interviewed they told HMRC investigators that the amount of cash Fleming claimed he was paying them was far more than they received from any customer.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that the 59-year-old, from Balmullo, has paid back the cash in full, but Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said the six year scam was too serious for him to avoid jail.

Sheriff Carmichael jailed Fleming for two-years-and-eight-months.