Michael Cohen issued a stinging rebuke of his former boss Donald Trump on Wednesday as he was sentenced to three years in prison, insisting it had been his job to cover up Mr Trump’s “dirty deeds”.

Cohen, who served as Mr Trump’s lawyer and fixer for a decade, likened his sentencing to a moment of “freedom” as he would no longer be bound by his relationship to his former employer.

The sentence hearing followed Cohen pleading guilty earlier this year to four crimes: tax evasion, lying to a financial institution, lying to Congress and breaking campaign finance laws.

The last of those involved paying two women who claimed affairs with Mr Trump – porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal – to stay quiet before the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen has claimed in court that Mr Trump directed the payments - something the US president has denied. Mr Trump has also suggested such payments would not amount to crimes.