A building surveyor has been jailed for swindling the National Trust out of more than £1 million through false invoices.

Roger Bryant, 73, of Coombe Close in Barnstaple was convicted of 28 offences following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

His sons, James Bryant, 49, from Parracombe, and Scott Bryant, 38, of Church Close, also in Barnstaple, were found guilty of two charges relating to “them knowing – or at least suspecting – the money generated from their own companies by their father was the proceeds of crime”.

Roger Bryant was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, James Bryant four years in prison and Scott Bryant two years suspended for 18 months.

The three defendants appeared at Bristol Crown Court for sentence on Friday.

During the trial, the court heard whilst employed by the National Trust as a building surveyor, Roger Bryant fraudulently submitted invoices to the trust for building work that was not completed, either in whole or in part.

Between January 2008 and October 2013 the charity believed it was paying two companies for work that had been completed. It said payments were made to JR Contracting in most instances and SB Construction in others.

During this time the National Trust made 112 payments totalling £1,061,096.29 in respect of invoices from JR Contracting. Both payments were made to one of two bank accounts, both controlled by James Bryant.

Between February 2011 and October 2013, the charity made 36 payments totalling £64,208.57 after invoices from SB Construction.

The fraud was discovered in October 2013 when the National Trust was seeking to update its approach to procurement.

Following the discovery of the fraud, Roger Bryant attempted to pervert the course of justice by asking two people to lie and say they had witnessed works take place at various locations, when in fact they had not.

In a separate fraud against the National Trust in 2013, Roger Bryant submitted invoices in relation to a real contractor for work supposedly carried out on National Trust properties, when the work had been carried out on Roger Bryant’s own property.

Judge Burgess KC described Bryant’s criminality as “audacious and protracted”, adding that he had a position of considerable trust within the organisation and was responsible for a budget of more than half a million per year.

Judge Burgess said that he actively abused his position and that his sons were consciously complicit in the offending.

The National Trust said it was “pleased with the outcome” of the court case.

“We trust our staff to do their jobs efficiently and honestly which is vitally important to an organisation responsible for looking after many different places in such a wide geographical area,” it said.

“We have all been very shocked at the crimes committed by a trusted member of staff.”

Following the sentencing, Det Insp Adam Bond said it was a “complex case hindered by the passage of time”.

“The sentences passed today by His Honour Judge Burgess KC reflect the severity of this fraud, especially when considered the victim is a much-loved and respected charitable organisation responsible for much of the country’s building and countryside heritage.”

Sian Mitchell from the Crown Prosecution Service added Roger Bryant said: “At every stage of the investigation he tried to mislead investigators, attempting to hide paperwork and even trying to persuade witnesses to lie. However, the prosecution was able to build a robust case to prove beyond doubt that he was guilty.

“We will not hesitate to prosecute cases of serious fraud such as this and we are pursuing confiscation proceedings against the defendants to remove any available funds from this fraud.”

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