Repeat offender spared jail for illegal tobacco smuggling

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 06:32 · Archive

A man with previous convictions was caught with £120,000 worth of illegal foreign tobacco but received a suspended sentence.

Shwan Abubaker, from Derbyshire, was pulled over by police near Vauxhall Holiday Park at the end of the Acle Straight on 20 December 2023. Officers found boxes of 50g pouches of foreign-branded tobacco in the back and boot of his vehicle. The prosecutor said the tobacco, purchased in Europe, could have fetched £120,000 if sold, with £82,464 in duty being evaded.

Abubaker had two previous convictions for acquiring criminal property in 2015 and 2019, for which he served prison sentences. At Norwich Crown Court, he admitted acquiring possession of dutiable goods with fraudulent intent. Judge Katharine Moore described the operation as a 'significant enterprise' and told him: 'Rather than live legitimately you commit criminal offences.'

Despite this, the judge imposed a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, taking into account his guilty plea and lack of offending since the seizure. His defence counsel said he 'should've known better'.

How it is being reported

• Judge calls repeat offender with illegal tobacco a 'menace' (but doesn't jail him)A "menace" was stopped by police near to a Norfolk holiday park with a cargo of illegal foreign tobacco worth up to £120,000.Eastern Daily Press · 16 Oct, 06:00
• Judge calls repeat offender with illegal tobacco a 'menace' (but doesn't jail him)A "menace" was stopped by police near to a Norfolk holiday park with a cargo of illegal foreign tobacco worth up to £120,000.Norwich Evening News · 16 Oct, 06:00

In this story: Shwan Abubaker · Judge Katharine Moore · Norwich Crown Court · Great Yarmouth · Derbyshire

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