Jailed for role in bootlegging
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Haulier Brian Walton has begun a six-year jail sentence after playing a pivotal role in a bootlegging empire which defrauded the Exchequer of £20m.
His company, which traded as Goldseal Logistics out of Aylesham, near Canterbury, carried almost 800 loads of contraband beer, spirits and tobacco in 40ft trailers.
The operation was masterminded by Ellis Martin while he was serving a five-year sentence for bootlegging; it involved nine people.
Southwark Crown Court heard how Martin, who has had 'his previous sentence extended by nine years, spent hours on the phone running his illegal racket under the noses of the prison authorities. All the gang members were arrested in January 1997 and charged with conspiracy to cheat the Inland Revenue. They all received jail sentences although one was suspended.
Walton had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
After the hearing Ken Ford, who led the investigation on behalf of Customs & Excise, said Walton had collected the goods from bonded warehouses in the UK as well as from the Continent and had mainly delivered to cash and carry outlets. "He did all of the illicit movements,' Ford adds. "Approximately £30m worth of goods were sold on the home market."