A market trader from Bushey who brought six million cigarettes into the UK without paying £1.3 million duty has been jailed for evading customs duty - after pretending they were croissants from Holland.

The crates were transported from Holland through Dover and Customs officers raided the Essex yard as the Yeoman European B.V. truck was being unloaded.

Driver Colin Yeoman, 53, of Ayres Drive, Peterborough, and Brian Yeoman, 50, of Hanbury, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, who helped with the planning, have been jailed for four years each.

Bernard Levy, 51, of Willoughby, Bushey, (below) whose son owned the yard at Howard House industrial estate, has been jailed for two years.

Watford Observer:

All three pleaded not guilty to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of customs duty between 1 and 31 July 2014.

David Hall, 51, of Selborne Road, Southgate, north London was sentenced to 28 months having already pleaded guilty.

He led Colin Yeoman to the yard and was loading some of the cigarettes into his van when Customs raided.

Watford Observer:

The prosecution alleged the Yeomans set up a bogus collection order from Creed Foodservices based in Cheltenham to deliver 30 pallets of "croissants" from Holland to Dairy Crest.

The brothers and Levy claimed they didn't know the boxes contained cigarettes. The Yeomans, who did not give evidence, said they were told en route the load was "perfume."

Levy, who did give evidence in his defence, said he thought the crates contained sports goods.

Watford Observer:

The court heard that Levy, a market trader based at Howard House industrial unit, Waltham Abbey, was being paid "a couple of thousand" to help unload and store some of the crates in containers he owned and rented out at the yard. Howard House was owned by his son, it was said.

The prosecution claimed the Yeomans carried out an "elaborate charade" - pretending emails had been sent by Creed and pre-preparing documentation.