THREE cigarette smugglers who lost their nerve when they were challenged by Customs officers were jailed yesterday.
Officers swooped when ten suitcases were left uncollected on the luggage carousel at Teesside Airport, after a flight arrived from Gran Canaria last January 2, said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.
They arrested a woman and two men from Newcastle, who pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of £18,000 duty on 139,000 cigarettes.
Roger Moore, defending, said that Helen Wilson, 35, had just left a hostel for battered women when she was offered the trip.
Leslie Wilson, 45, of Kirkwood Drive, Newcastle, was jailed for six months and David Pilcher, 33, and Helen Wilson, both from Peppercorn Court, The Quayside, Newcastle, were each jailed for four months.
Judge Peter Armstrong said the prison sentences were a deterrent to others who might be tempted.
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