Taxi driver stopped on M4 by police and found with a tonne-and-a-half of illicit tobacco is jailed A cab driver caught with more than a tonne-and-a-half of illicit tobacco stuffed into black bin bags has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Alan Clater, 62, was caught transporting 404kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 1.199 tonnes of raw tobacco worth a whopping £260,000 in lost excise duty.
He was stopped by Wiltshire Police on the M4 near Swindon who discovered scores of bin liners stuffed with the illicit tobacco piled in the back of his van in March 2013.
Clater, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, was handed the suspended prison sentence and ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.
Alan Clater, 62, was caught transporting 404kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 1.199 tonnes of raw tobacco worth a whopping £260,000 in lost excise duty.
He was stopped by Wiltshire Police on the M4 near Swindon who discovered scores of bin liners stuffed with the illicit tobacco piled in the back of his van in March 2013.
Clater, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, was handed the suspended prison sentence and ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work.
Colin Spinks, HMRC's Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, said: "We will not stand by and let crooks rip off the law-abiding public, stealing money that should be being spent on vital public services.
"These offences have a devastating impact on honest retailers who have to compete with the black market and on the nation's finances, with around £2 billion lost in excise revenue each year."
Clater pleaded not guilty to both being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the duty payable on tobacco and to taking steps with a view to the evasion of duty payable on tobacco.
The court ordered that the tobacco seized was ordered to be destroyed.
Read more:
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Taxi ... z3d9FX3FFN
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