A DENTIST was jailed for 18 months yesterday after he was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the National Health Service.

Richard Cox, 50, a dentist for 27 years, made hundreds of false and inflated claims for treatment to the Dental Practice Board, said Stephen Duffield, prosecuting.

When he was investigated by Durham Area Health Authority and Durham Police fraud squad, he blamed it on a former practice manager and a receptionist.

The fraud at Cox's 3,500-patient practice, in Newton Aycliffe, continued for four years, but Teesside Crown Court was told there was no known total figure.

Cox, of Meadow House, Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington, who was convicted after a 17-day trial, now faces being struck off by the General Dental Council, said Malcolm Fortune, defending.

Judge Guy Whitburn told Cox: "You must receive a considerable sentence, not only to punish you but to warn others who might be tempted to engage in similar types of fraud."

Witnesses said the fraud referred to was "the very tip of a very large iceberg", said the judge.

Sixteen former patients gave evidence about their treatment at the practice in Dalton Way, Newton Aycliffe, where Cox moved in 1993 from premises in Beveridge Way, Newton Aycliffe.