Woman with 22,600 cigs and 90kg of tobacco told customs: ‘It’s for my own personal use’
A MOTHER who was stopped at Manchester Airport with eight bags of luggage containing 22,600 cigarettes and more than 90 kilos of tobacco said they were for her own personal use.
Leila Messaoudi, 43, was questioned after arriving in Manchester via London Heathrow following a flight from Dubai. She later claimed she didn’t know what she had done was illegal.
Judge Michael Leeming said: “It would have obviously taken years and years for those cigarettes and tobacco to be consumed by you.”
Messaoudi pleaded guilty to one offence of the fraudulent evasion of duties after being hauled before the courts. The loss to HM Revenue and Customs was £26,589.82, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Prosecuting, Sarah Johnston told how Messaoudi arrived at Terminal 3 and was spotted by border force officers with eight bags of luggage.
Messaoudi told them she had been to Dubai for five days, and admitted that she had tobacco and cigarettes within her luggage.
When asked how many, she said ‘a few.’ Asked again, she conceded she had ‘too many.’ A search of her luggage revealed she had 90.5kg of tobacco, as well as 22,600 mixed brand cigarettes.
Messaoudi told officers that her flights had been booked by a man named ‘Steve,’ who she said was a friend of hers.
When she was interviewed, she claimed that the tobacco and cigarettes were for her own personal use.
She had bought the items from the duty-free store at Dubai airport as well as additional luggage to store them, she said.
A subsequent analysis of her phone confirmed her claim that her friend ‘Steve’ had booked her flights. Defending, Harriet Tighe said Messaoudi was remorseful for the ‘opportunistic oneoff offence.’
Ms Tighe said Messaoudi initially believed what she was doing was permitted, a claim the judge said he found ‘difficult to accept.’
Messaoudi, who used to work as a cleaner, has recently separated from her husband after their relationship broke down, the court was told.
Sentencing, Judge Leeming said the loss to HMRC was ‘not insubstantial’ but that the scheme was ‘not particularly sophisticated.’
Messaoudi, of Garstang Road West, Blackpool, was given six months jail, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours of unpaid work. She must also attend 20 ‘rehabilitation activity’ days.