£10,000 fine for Bristol Airport cigarette smugglers
17.10.08
A married couple who smuggled nearly 30,000 cigarettes in to the UK via Bristol Airport have had £10,000 of criminal gain confiscated between them.
John Weatherall, 63, and his wife Linda, 62, of Margrett Road, Cheltenham, hid the cigarettes, as well as tobacco, in their luggage when they returned home from a trip to Spain, Bristol Crown Court heard. A search of their home revealed they already had 28,600 cigarettes and 9kg of tobacco, on which they should have paid £6,374.58 duty.
Both Weatheralls admitted concealing goods with intent to defraud and fraudulently evading duty, on March 14. Earlier, John Weatherall was given an eight-month jail sentence, and his wife a 12-month community order, with six months’ supervision and a three-month curfew, in which she must stay at home between 19:00 and 07:00.
Yesterday, Judge John Foley heard John Weatherall’s criminal benefit was calculated at £8,280.56 and his wife’s benefit was said to be £1,779.61. He allowed the couple six months each to pay.
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