A SERIAL smuggler caught with thousands of pounds of tobacco has been sentenced.
William McMahon, of Chichester Road, Southend, was caught with his luggage full of hand-rolling tobacco as he arrived at St Pancras International Rail Termina, in London.
HM Revenue and Customs found McMahon, 48, had made more than 100 return trips to Belgium between January 2010 and December 2011, at least half of which involved smuggling.
Unemployed McMahon varied his travel times and route, entering the UK through Dover, Heathrow or St Pancras.
The duty lost is estimated at £56,500.
McMahon, who was arrested at St Pancras on December 1, 2011, pleaded guilty to smuggling offences in May and was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Friday to 15 months jail, suspended for two years.
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