A FATHER-OF-TWO was jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to 14 charges of false accounting.

Aurangzeb Shah, 32, of Princess Street, Great Harwood, was charged by the Inland Revenue under S17 of the Theft Act 1968 and appeared at Preston Crown Court.

The court heard he provided false employment information on a working families tax credit application in order to obtain tax credits that were not due.

Shah also managed to obtain working families tax credit order books to which he was not entitled and cashed the orders. The amounts fraudulently obtained totalled £9,357.

In passing sentence, Judge Brian Duckworth said: "You have a significant background of fraud and deception, dishonest from the start. You have been before the court on considerable occasions before on other matters. You are not a man of good character and are a fraudster.

"This was a sophisticated, planned attack and you knew how to maximise the benefits that you would get.

"This was a substantial amount of money from public funds and in my judgment is a serious offence. Those who deliberately, blatantly and persistently milk the system must receive a custodial sentence."