Smuggler's sentences cut

The duty on the smuggled cigarettes totalled £164,000

Judges have cut the jail terms of two cigarette smugglers after a report suggested that putting such criminals behind bars is causing prison overcrowding.

Paul Barry Bryan from Coalville, Leicestershire, along with John Mitchell from Harlow, Essex were convicted at Maidstone Crown Court of smuggling and jailed in June 2002.

Bryan, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to evade exercise duty and was jailed for two and a half years, while Mitchell, 33, was found guilty of being knowingly concerned with the evasion of duty and got four years.

In July, the Sentencing Advisory Panel said the smuggling of tobacco and alcohol were "non violent and non sexual offences with no direct personal victim" and those caught should get more lenient sentences.

Offered cash

Judges sitting at the Court of Appeal in London, took account of the panel's findings when they reduced the pair's sentences.

Lorry driver Bryan clenched his fists with delight when the judge cut his sentence to nine months, while Mitchell who was not in court, was told he will now serve two and a half years.

Lord Justice Rose said when Bryan was in France on a job he was asked to bring cigarettes into the UK in return for a payment of £1,000.

When he arrived to pick up the consignment he discovered there were more than a million, but agreed to bring them into the country when he was offered more money.

Customs officials later followed his lorry when he drove out of the Channel Tunnel, and arrested him and Mitchell as well as a number of co-accused, as the van was being unloaded in Kent.

The duty evaded on the batch of cigarettes was £164,000 although both men denied being major players.

Bryan, described as "reliable and hardworking", said he was no more than naive, while Mitchell claimed he was an "innocent dupe" who had been led to believe by others involved in the scam that he was dealing with bankrupt stock.