A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history. Thomas Scragg, 56, was jailed for a total of 17 years following three separate fraud convictions against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) ~ the latest, in March 2011, for stealing millions of pounds in employee PAYE tax. The conman from Solihull, West Mids. used his business Moya Payroll which managed staff wages of construction industry companies to steal over £26m in tax over a five year period between 2002 and 2007. Other investigations revealed a further £8m of stolen PAYE tax in a 10-month period from April 2007 to February 2008.His co-defendant, Paul Phillips from Derbyshire, was jailed for nine years.The latest conviction for offences in March 2011, followed a joint investigation by West Midlands Police and HMRC.The extent of Scragg's racket has remained a secret until now as cases against his two henchmen Carl Johnson, 49, and his brother Anthony, 51, from Wolverhampton progressed through court.
SPLASHING around in a paddling pool, this little elephant soaks up the sunshine .
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .
An artist has transformed traditional Thanksgiving dinners into mini-masterpieces .
If you had to scrape the snow off your car this morning or slip-slide your way into work over icy pavements spare a thought for these little critters .
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
An Australian explorer has travelled the globe with a toy pig, known as Travel Piggy, in search of a missing cuddly companion .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
Soldiers standing guard outside the Woolwich barracks in London - Two terror suspects are under armed guard in separate hospitals in London after a serving soldier was hacked to death in the street .
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .