A BENEFIT cheat who stole £160,000 from the tax payer in an "audacious" 16-year scam has been jailed.

Eric Stone, of Pergin Crescent in Poole, began claiming from Oldham Borough Council while he was living in the Greater Manchester town in 1996.

That same year, he married pub owner Lynne Wilkinson in a secret Dominican Republic ceremony, and the couple went on to have two children.

But Stone, 51, continued to claim benefits under the pretence that he was single, childless and out of work.

In fact, Mrs Stone was "a woman of some substance", prosecutor Michael Butt told a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court.

She was the owner of pub and hotel Prince Albert in Oldham, and in addition, as of November 1998 held a 999-year lease on a house in the area.

The defendant himself had also been buying and selling cars as a licensed dealer, the court heard.

He told officials that Mrs Stone, then using her maiden name, was his landlady and of no relation to him.

Mr Butt said: "The defendant, if he had declared his true position, would not have been entitled to any of those benefits, at least from 1998 onwards."

The couple and their children relocated to Poole in 2007, when Stone immediately signed up to receive more benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions and the borough council.

In an interview with officials, he was recorded saying: "I live on my own.

"I have never been married and do not have any children. My landlady is not related to me. I have not done any paid or unpaid work during the time of my claim. There have been no changes to my circumstances."

David Freeland, mitigating, said Stone had a serious gambling addiction for which he has not sought help.

"Like many people, he was enticed to use online casinos," he said, adding that Stone has lost "tens of thousands of pounds" to his habit.

The defendant has paid back around £82,631 of the amount taken, it was heard.

A number of the payments were made by Mrs Stone the day before her husband's sentence.

Judge John Harrow told the defendant: "This was rank dishonesty, audacious some might say."

Stone was sentenced to two years behind bars.

He admitted five counts of fraud, two of making a dishonest representation to obtain benefit and two of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances.