Dutch driver jailed
Page 13
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A West Yorkshire court has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Dutch lorry driver alleged to have been involved in a multi-thousand-pound tobacco smuggling ring.
Another continental driver, together with 10 other people including employees at the Association Fresh Food depot in Lofthouse, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to charges related to the smuggling of hand-rolling tobacco from the Netherlands into this country.
Jan Braams, who admitted the charges against him, was jailed for nine months, but at a recent hearing before Wakefield Crown Court the judge was told that a second driver, Sopheus Burgstede of Brussum, Netherlands, had failed to answer his bail which included surities of £6,000.
Hugh Tolland of Westmead Drive, Cheetham, Manchester, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years and charges of knowingly being concerned in the evasion of duty. He was described as "one of the smaller cogs" in the scheme.
The court heard, however, that the tax evasion on the amount handled by Tolland alone amounted to 212,500.