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The Associated Press

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LONDON - The former agent to the Queen's official composer was sentenced to prison Monday for embezzling more than 500,000 pounds (US$800,000) from his employer over 16 years.

Michael Arnold was the agent and manager of musician Peter Maxwell Davies for more than 30 years and controlled his finances.

Prosecutors said Arnold, who acknowledged having a gambling habit, began stealing from Maxwell Davies in 1990.

The fraud was discovered in 2006 when the composer was unable to withdraw 40 pounds from a bank machine because of insufficient funds.

Arnold pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court on Sept. 8 to false accounting involving 522,333 pounds ($853,000). He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on Monday.

Maxwell Davies, 75, holds the title of Master of the Queen's Music and is considered one of the world's most eminent composers.

Prosecution lawyer Justin Cole said the composer lived in the isolated Orkney islands in northern Scotland and was "not a worldly man."

"He was not interested in the material world and was more interested in his music," Cole said.

He said the composer's work should have earned him "hundreds of thousands a year," but he was given an annual allowance of just 25,000 pounds.

Arnold's lawyer told the court the missing money had been used to pay for his sick brother's care and he had intended to pay it back.

Judge Nicholas Jones said he had taken the 76-year-old defendant's age and ill-health into account, but that the serious crime deserved a jail sentence. Arnold, who walks with a stick, was helped from the dock after sentence was passed.

The composer received an undisclosed settlement last year after bringing a civil case against Arnold and his wife Judith to the High Court.