A courier firm boss who swindled the taxman out of more than £300,000 in VAT has been jailed for two years.

Father-of-four Anthony Hyde was told by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court he had "stolen from his fellow citizens".

The 51-year-old filed false VAT returns for more than six years and owed £325,623 by the time an investigation was launched by the HM Revenues and Customs office.

The court heard he then used the money to gamble.

Hyde, who admitted tax evasion between December 2006 and April 2013, was told by Judge Charles Macdonald QC that his offending, although "hapless" rather than professionally planned, had been "protracted".

Passing sentence he added: "It involved £325,623 stolen, I'm afraid to say, from your fellow citizens - their hospitals, their schools, their defence, their internal order."

"It involved £325,623 stolen, I'm afraid to say, from your fellow citizens - their hospitals, their schools, their defence, their internal order" - Judge Charles Macdonald QC

Hyde pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He denied a charge of providing false VAT returns amounting to more than £340,000 and this was accepted by the prosecution.

Alexia Zimbler, prosecuting, said the grandfather, of Masefield Road, Larkfield, submitted 22 false VAT returns over the period in question.

However, an investigation into his business was launched when he changed the way he dealt with VAT in 2010.

"It showed that the defendant had been faking his VAT returns, effectively claiming for VAT to which he was not entitled and not claiming the VAT for which he ought to," she said.

"This was somebody who from the very outset knew exactly what to do in order to retain these funds."

Elaine Stapleton, defending, told the court Hyde single-handedly brought his children up over 20 years before setting up the courier business once they were old enough to walk themselves to and from school.

She said he had gone from working in a warehouse to a full-time father on benefits and then running a successful firm.

"His conduct was wholly out of character and something which came about through circumstances rather than dishonesty," explained Ms Stapleton.

"He found himself suddenly in the flush of a successful business having access to funds."

The court heard Hyde, of Masefield Road, Larkfield, began to gamble. "He couldn't stop and hid it from his family and everyone around him," continued Ms Stapleton.

"It wasn't for the winning or the losing but the thrill that he got from it."

The court heard he made "full and frank" admissions when he was interviewed by tax inspectors in April last year.

Ironically, he was fully up-to-date and "paid up" with all his income tax.

He has since sought help with Gamblers' Anonymous and an online support group.

Three of Hyde's children were in the public gallery in support of their father and a letter written by them was read by the judge.

The court heard no one else was involved in the dishonesty as he did not employ a book-keeper.

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