Dentist who claimed cash for made-up patients - including his sister's DOG - is jailed

Newton Johnson, 52, invented more than 100 patients and falsely claimed £37,555 for work he never carried out.

His wife Judith, 51, the practice manager, filled out the bogus paperwork. She was jailed for 18 months for stealing £32,357.

Justin Gau, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Johnson's sister's Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla called Varlo appeared on the patient list as 'Varlo Johnson'.

Jailed: Newton Johnson, pictured with wife Judith, invented more than 100 patients and falsely claimed £37,555 for work he never carried out. Mrs Johnson the practice manager, filled out the bogus paperwork

'They were saying to the public purse "open wide" and performing a series of illegal extractions,' said Mr Gau. 'The fillings they performed were the fillings of their own wallets.'

Mr Gau said Johnson was unhappy in his work in Llanelli, West Wales, and kept a diary containing bizarre entries.

These included: 'Hard to face endless days treating the great unwashed', 'This bloody job, who would be a pigging dentist', and 'You have to laugh. Burned a patient's lip this morning and snapped another's dentures'.

He also noted: 'I hate my work so much. I drink my despair away. I loathe it. I wish I could stop being a dentist.'

After the Health Service began an inquiry Johnson wrote: 'We are in deep s*** now' and: 'We must earn double. It's the only way.'

Mr Gau said: 'They certainly managed to receive more but they were not earning it.'

Johnson, who legitimately made between £100,000 and £200,000 a year, was shopped by his sister, Karen Johnson, who worked in the practice, and a fellow dentist, David Roderick.

Mr Roderick photocopied 24 suspicious patient records and sent them to the local Dental Practice Board. It asked Johnson for the same records but received entirely different documents.

They were forgeries,' said Mr Gau.

The court heard that Johnson and his wife, who liked to dine at the area's only five- star hotel, were renovating a house in Llanelli, and put the costs through the practice's books.

Mr Gau said the couple 'were motivated by greed and financial incompetence'.

Judge Keith Thomas said the offending had been 'serious, substantial and prolonged'.

He said the Government relied on the professionals it paid out of the public purse to behave with integrity.

Dyfed Powys Police have begun a financial investigation and 'a substantial claim' will be made against the Johnsons.

The court was told that after the couple pleaded guilty to the offences they sent letters to their patients proclaiming their innocence and asking them to provide character references.

The outcome, the court heard, was a large number of references which paid glowing tribute to the couple.

Johnson's barrister, Jim Davis, said the couple could not afford to repay the money and faced 'absolute ruin'. He said their home and dental practice were up for sale.

He claimed greed had been no factor in the theft but they had been motivated by a desire to give NHS patients a better deal.

He said Johnson habitually filled the teeth of NHS patients with a filling normally used in his private work which cost eight times more.

He added that Johnson was now genuinely remorseful.

Newton Johnson admitted 20 offences of theft and his wife 17.