Newcastle Airport air stewardess convicted of cigarette smuggling
03.07.09
Hiding behind her respectable job and special airport clearance, a 'sneaky stewardess' staged a lucrative cigarette smuggling scam at Newcastle Airport, the Chronicle reports. With her air stewardess uniform and official luggage, Wendy Rutterford thought she would go unnoticed as she passed through the airport carrying thousands of pounds-worth of cigarettes. But her tobacco trafficking racket 'went up in smoke' when shop staff spotted her regularly bulk-buying duty free goods, the newspaper reports.
Customs officers swooped to arrest 37-year-old as she arrived back at Newcastle Airport from Norway and she was found with 3,000 cigarettes inside her baggage. Background checks revealed Ms Rutterford, of Haggerston Court, Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle, had made a series of purchases over a 5 month period as she flew in and out of Newcastle with Eastern Airways, smuggling more than 6,000 cigarettes, cheating the taxman out of nearly £1,300.
She was been convicted of charges relating to the smuggling operation at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, where she admitted three counts of fraudulently evading excise duty. The court heard Ms Rutterford lost her job with Eastern Airways, but she had found work at Gatwick Airport as senior cabin crew with Viking Airlines. She will now lose that job as a result of the conviction, as she will not be granted an airside pass..
Lewis Pearson, defending, said the cigarettes were for personal use. Ms Rutterford was given a 12 month community order and told to do 150 hours’ community service. She has to repay tax evaded and prosecution costs of £100.
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