A STRUGGLING shopkeeper who sold bootleg tobacco to try and make his business pay, has started a four-month jail term, as a judge hit out at duty dodgers.

Burnley Crown Court had heard how Tom Marshall sold pouches of hand rolling tobacco at cut price to attract customers to his Bacup "open all hours" shop, cheating authorities out of duty to the tune of £10,000.

Marshall, at 63, with no previous convictions and who months earlier had been "warned" by Customs and Excise officials, was told by Burnley's senior judge that dealing in goods on which duty had not been paid was prevalent and it was the third case recently he knew of in "this corner of East Lancashire."

The judge, who said it was very hard for any bench to send somebody of his age and good character to prison, said he hoped others would take heed of the sentence. He went on: "The message must go out to people who are tempted to do what you have done that it affects other people who are selling tobacco products properly and legitimately."

Judge Bennett, sitting with two magistrates, added that Marshall had done wrong against the protests of his wife - they were now separated - and said: "She was the one who was right and you were the one who was wrong."

Marshall, of Hawthorn Road, Bacup, had earlier admitted evading excise duty and dealing in goods upon which no duty was paid. He had been committed for sentence by justices.

Andrew Downie, prosecuting for HM Customs and Excise, said in October 1998 the defendant was warmed of the risks and problems in selling duty free goods to the public through shop outlets, and at that stage no evidence of anything illegal going on was found. In July 1999, customs officers went back to the shop on the Pennine Road estate and Marshall was arrested after 20.4 kilogrammes of hand rolling tobacco were found. He said he had been dealing in the tobacco for about nine months. He later tried to help with the identity of the man who sold it to him. The tobacco was bought in Belgium and £10,000 in duty was evaded.

Sarah Goodchild, defending, said Marshall took the decision to sell the tobacco because his shop wasn't making anything like the profit it was supposed to be making. About half of its profit came from tobacco and Marshall found customers were buying it cheaper elsewhere.

He made about 75p profit on each pouch, not for his personal profit, but more in terms for the shop, which he had been running for four years. The majority of the defendant's customers were on benefits and Marshall allowed credit and opened all hours, providing a useful service to the community. He made about £2,000 from selling the tobacco, mostly ploughed back into the shop.

He was separated from his wife of 25 years, was "in sheer fear" of going to prison and was unlikely ever to be before a court again.

Miss Goodchild went on: "The defendant has not made a great deal of money, but is going to have to pay for these offences for a long time to come. If he went to prison the shop would have to close down and that would be a loss to the community."

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