Bootle ng driver made 50,000—and goes to jail
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• An out-of-work lorry driver who admitted bootlegging hundreds of pounds' worth of drink and tobacco through Dover has been jailed for 11 months.
Michael Gibbons appeared at Canterbury Crown Court to answer two charges involving the importation of goods, and one of dealing in goods on which duty had not been paid.
Gibbons, from Thatcham, Berks, was told by Judge Jonathan Langdon that the fact that he was out of work in no way way mitigated what he had done. "Your motive must have been purely greed," said Langdon.
Mark Rainsford, prosecuting, said Gibbons was stopped by Customs on 8 February with a large quantity of wine, spirits, beer, tobacco, cigarettes and cigars. The duty he evaded totalled £3,754 and Gibbons admitted more than 20 previous trips, cheating the state of about £50,000.
He used the same car each time: this has been confiscated by Customs, as have the goods. Gibbons said he sold tobacco to people he knew in pubs. In 1997 he brought in wine and on previous trips had brought in beer and wine. He told the court he didn't know how much he had made out of it.
Oliver Saxby, for Gibbons, said he realised prison was inevitable. He said the smuggling was "a sideline to his regular employment and was not part of a commercial operation. The effect of prison on him will be catastrophic—he will lose his job and has lost his car."