Men convicted over cigarette stash

The unpaid cigarette duty was thought to be £1.25m

Two men have been convicted for taking part in a scheme to evade more than £1m of duty on cigarettes which were hidden in mattresses and rolls of polythene.

Paul Cambridge, 33, of Cheddar, Somerset and Steven Williams, 43, of Brislington, Bristol, were found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court.

They were arrested last year after customs officers discovered seven million cigarettes at two warehouses and in Cambridge's back garden.

Later searches by customs officers found 94 mattresses in one warehouse and industrial rolls of polythene at another warehouse rented by Cambridge which were hollow and packed with cigarettes.

Guilty plea

Two vans were also found to have hidden cigarettes on board.

The unpaid duty on all of the cigarettes was thought to be worth around £1.25m.

Three other men, Carl Coles, 49, of Woolavington, Somerset; James Guyan, 32, of Bristol and Nicholas Ward, 25, of Sutton Coldfield, had already pleaded guilty to the same offence.

No verdict

Two other men Malcolm Smith, 33, of Eastville, Bristol and Christopher Turner, 29, of Burtwood, Walsall, were acquitted of the same offence.

The jury failed to return verdicts on two further defendants, John Cahill, 35, of Eastville, Bristol, and Shaun Weyman, 38, formerly of Easton, who had both denied the same charge.

Judge Peter Thomas adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports on Cambridge, Williams, Coles, Guyan and Ward. Sentencing will be at a date to be fixed.