A dad caught trying to smuggle more than 100,000 cigarettes through Manchester Airport attempted to do the same thing weeks later. Blenda Omar, 41, was branded 'foolish in the extreme' as he narrowly avoided a jail sentence for his crimes.
Omar had been taking orders from friends and family for cheap cigarettes which he'd bought in Iraq. He arrived at Manchester Airport in October 2018 and was stopped after passing through the green 'nothing to declare' channel, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Omar had three large shrink wrapped cases which contained 105,180 cigarettes, prosecutor Saul Brody said. He was not prosecuted and was instead handed a warning letter, with the cigarettes being seized.
"You were fortunate not to be prosecuted on that occasion, but you were given a warning as to the consequences of your actions," Judge Sarah Johnston told him. "You did not heed that warning."
About a month later, Omar flew from Doha to Heathrow Airport with his wife and daughter. He was intercepted by Border Force officers and questioned.
At first he tried to claim that he only had two bags, but he actually had further bags which had been checked in. In total Omar had five bags, which contained 154,000 cigarettes.
Over the two incidents the total amount of duty evaded came to £102,960, Mr Brody said. Graham Rishton, defending, said Omar had been 'fulfilling orders' for friends and family, buying cigarettes in bulk from Iraq where the prices are 'particularly low'.
Mr Rishton said in attempting to do the same thing weeks later, Omar had been 'foolish in the extreme'. He has a wife and two young children in Iraq and wants to bring them to the UK, where he has lived for the past two decades, the court was told.
Mr Rishton said Omar had not committed any further offences since these incidents in 2018, and appealed for the judge to spare him from prison. Judge Johnston said she was satisfied that Omar, who has not committed any offences previously, had 'learnt a salutary lesson' .
He was handed a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. Omar, of St Lawrence Close, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulently evading duties.
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