Smugglers warned Bristol Airport ‘no soft touch’
03.07.08
Cigarette and tobacco smugglers have been warned that Bristol Airport is no 'soft touch'. The caution by Customs officers at the airport follows the guilty pleas of a married couple who tried to smuggle tens of thousands of cigarettes in to the UK via the hub.
John and Linda Weatherall, both aged 62, attempted to smuggle 31,200 cigarettes and 9.95kgs of tobacco March this year. They jointly admitted concealing the cigarettes and tobacco with intent to defraud HMRC before magistrates at North Somerset Courthouse in St Georges.
John Weatherall is currently subject to four months imprisonment suspended for 18 months for smuggling 200,000 cigarettes. The couple, of Margrett Road, Cheltenham, will now appear at Bristol Crown Court for a committal hearing later this month.
The Magistrates told Mrs Weatherall she could expect a community order but Mr Weatherall was told that his previous conviction would be taken into account when they are sentenced.
An HMRC spokesman said: ‘Smugglers should not see regional airports like Bristol as a soft touch. Selling tobacco and other excise goods is not a harmless tax fiddle. It cheats the Government of revenue, which can be used to fund public services such as schools and hospitals.'
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