Former football club chief jailed for tax evasion

THE former chief executive of a West Midlands football club has been jailed for five and a half years for his part in a cigarette smuggling operation.

Guy Simpson, who ran Halesowen Town FC in the Southern League Premier Division, was sentenced today (Tuesday) at Southampton Crown Court.

On the first day of his tax evasion trial last month , he changed his plea to guilty after failing to pay duty on over 21m, or around £5.3m worth, of cigarettes.

Customs estimated that the amount of duty he avoided paying was around £4.5m after the Regal brand cigarettes were found in two cargo containers on ships arriving in Southampton from China in December 2008.

Simpson, 53, and from Heath Charnock in Lancashire, helped to organise the shipment and was arrested following a routine scan of a container which was supposed to contain gym balls.

Simpson was said to be £900,000 in debt and facing bankruptcy.

Judge Peter Ralls QC said: “It is apparent from the information that Customs could uncover that you were deeply involved in this importation.

“You played a pivotal role and operated through your legitimate business as a front.

“Having regard to all factors and the sheer scale I sentence you to five and a half years.”

John Cooper, HMRC assistant director criminal investigation, said: “This was a blatant attempt to smuggle a massive quantity of counterfeit cigarettes into Southampton and onto the UK’s streets.

“Criminals, like Simpson, don’t care about undercutting honest retailers, depriving the UK of public funds or consider the real content of their cheap fake cigarettes. Smugglers only care about profit.”