A man from Milton Keynes has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment today, for attempting to smuggle more than two million cigarettes into the UK through Dover.

Conor McDaid, 44, originally from Northern Ireland, was stopped by UK Border Agency officers on November 11 2009, after he had arrived at Dover in his lorry on a ferry from France.

The lorry was searched and cigarettes were found concealed amongst various boxes of fruit juice. Revenue and Customs criminal investigators charged McDaid on August 18 for evading more than £400,000 duty on the cigarettes.

On Tuesday, November 23, he was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court, after pleading guilty to the offence.

Sentencing him, Judge O’Mahoney said: “You were under the cosh financially … when ripping off the Government, you are ripping of others in the country. It involves a lot of money and it is a serious crime.“

Martin Brown, Assistant Director, HMRC Criminal Investigation said: “People like McDaid are motivated solely by greed and personal gain.

"Tobacco crime costs the UK taxpayer around £2 billion per year in lost revenue, money which could be used to fund schools, hospitals, housing and other public services."

Anyone with information about illegal smuggling activities can call the Customs’ Hotline on 0800 59 5000 or email: customs.hotline@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk