- Fine for man who exploited Airport security ‘loophole’
- Carl Sutton regularly booked tickets for flights out of the Island then stocked up on cigarettes at the duty free shop before walking out arrivals
- He is selling his home to repay the £96,210 which it is claimed he made from the operation
A MAN has been ordered to repay thousands of pounds after exploiting a ‘loophole’ in Airport security to execute the most ‘blatant example of commercial cigarette smuggling’ ever seen by Customs officers.
On numerous occasions, Carl Sutton (52) booked tickets for flights out of the Island – but each time simply stocked up on cigarettes at the duty free shop before walking out through arrivals.
He then went on to sell them to an unnamed individual, avoiding nearly £10,000 in duty and making thousands of pounds in profit.
But his scam was rumbled when he was spotted by Customs officers – and now faces having to sell his home to repay the money that he made from the fraud.
He was this week sentenced to 180 hours of community service by the Royal Court after pleading guilty to 20 counts of fraudulent evasion of duty over a ten-month period.
After being arrested he told officers that he was attracted to the ‘excitement and buzz’ of getting away with the scam.
Sutton is now selling his home after being ordered by the court to repay the £96,210 which it is claimed he made from the operation.
His accomplice Paul McDermott (32) was sentenced to 90 hours of community service and ordered to repay more than £2,000 after pleading guilty to three offences of fraudulently evading duty.
Both were caught after Customs officers watched the pair arrive at the Airport on 11 June carrying large holdalls and separately making their way through security before purchasing a total of 6,500 cigarettes between them from the World Duty Free Shop.
The defendants left the departures lounge and went directly to the baggage reclaim area without boarding a flight.
Neither made a declaration to Customs officers and were arrested on suspicion of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of duty.
During the case – the first heard by the Royal Court for cigarette duty evasion – Crown Advocate Emma Hollywood said that the two men had admitted to performing the same routine once before.
However, she added that evidence from Sutton’s mobile phone had shown that he had been involved in evading duty on numerous other occasions on a ‘commercial basis’.
He later admitted the other offences.
McDermott claimed that the cigarettes he had purchased were for his own personal use, but that he had performed the same routine a few months earlier.
Advocate Hollywood added that the defendants’ activities were not part of a ‘mastermind enterprise’ but they were exploiting a ‘loophole’ in the Airport security system.
Meanwhile, Advocate Robin Leeuwenburg, defending Sutton, said that his client’s initial offence was not ‘pre-planned’ but ‘opportunistic’ and that there were ‘more mitigating factors than aggravating factors’ in the case.
Advocate Jane Grace, defending McDermott, said that her client was ‘adamant’ he would not appear in the Royal Court again because the proceedings had ‘shocked him to the core’.
Delivering the court’s sentence, Bailiff William Bailhache told Sutton that he had been ‘fortunate’ to receive community service.
He added that a fine would not have been appropriate and a community service sentence reflects the ‘serious’ nature of the offences.
The Bailiff was sitting with Jurats Anthony Olsen and Sally Sparrow.
