A man from Sittingbourne has been jailed for two years for his part in smuggling tobacco into Britain.

Benjamin Brazil, 29, of Glenbrook Grove, Milton Regis, had denied evading more than £262,000 of duty but was found guilty, along with Bob Lee, 43, of Maidstone, after a two-week trial.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the two men were caught red-handed with an illegal shipment of tobacco.

The pair were arrested by Customs officers as they unloaded 1.3 tonnes of Turner Blue tobacco from a lorry at a Rochester industrial estate on October 3, 2016.

Lorry driver and ex-Special Forces soldier Steven Skender, 43, from Croatia, was also arrested at the scene.

He told officers he was at a service station on the Luxembourg-German border on October 1, 2016, when he was approached by a man who offered him £1,000 to take 10 boxes of tobacco to the UK.

This is known as “window-tapping”where drivers are asked to take illegal goods to the UK in return for cash.

Skender said he had been approached on numerous occasions before but had declined. He said he agreed this time because he was offered £1,000 which would help pay for car repairs.

He had previously pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of duty and will be sentenced later.

Brazil was jailed for two years on Monday and Lee of Boughton Monchelsea was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Brett Wilkinson, assistant director of HM Revenue and Customs' fraud investigation service, said: “These men thought they could make money smuggling and selling illicit tobacco while stealing from UK taxpayers.

“Tobacco fraudsters are costing the UK around £2.5 billion a year in lost taxes and undermining legitimate, local businesses.

“We are disrupting the distribution of illicit tobacco across the UK and I urge anyone who is offered cheap products to report it online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

The total value of duty evaded was £262,482.50.