A NORTH-EAST man has been jailed for a year for dealing in smuggled tobacco and alcohol.

Harry Gibbon, 64, was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court yesterday after admitting five charges involving the evasion of £18,000 in duty over a six-month period.

He admitted he had sold 65,000 cigarettes and 52kg of hand-rolling tobacco in the County Durham area during the six months prior to being apprehended last November.

When customs officers arrested Gibbon, in Shildon, County Durham, they found 3,760 cigarettes, 2.6kg of tobacco and six litres of spirits in his car.

A search of his home in Howlish View, Coundon, and that of his girlfriend, in Ferryhill, both County Durham, revealed a further 20,720 cigarettes, 7.95kg of hand rolling tobacco and 36 litres of spirit.

The revenue goods and the car were seized as forfeit, along with £250 cash.

The court was told that Gibbon had previously served six months in prison for a similar offence of dealing, keeping and carrying smuggled goods.

Customs' North-East spokesman Rob Hastings-Trew said: "This is the case of a man who clearly would not learn. The custodial sentence he has received should send out a clear message to others who are tempted to deal in smuggled goods - cheats seldom prosper."