A bookkeeper and a soldier have been jailed for a combined 12 years for their roles in a £60m mobile phone VAT fraud.

Bookkeeper David G Routledge, 62, of Thyme Grove, Meir Park, was sentenced to seven years at Birmingham Crown Court and former soldier Craig Jones, 35, was jailed for five years.

Both had pled guilty to charges related to the fraud.

Routledge used his knowledge and experience of VAT matters and company formation to help set up a string of ‘missing trader’ companies to trade in mobile phones, the court was told.

Thousands of phones were then imported into the UK without VAT being paid. They were then sold at a loss in the UK, but when VAT was added at 17.5% this turned into profit.