The UK’s largest illegal tobacco factory, producing 140 packs of cigarettes a minute has been stopped after a HMRC tax investigation.
John Watson Snr, 47, Terence Jacques, 60, and Russell Haywood, 48, were the masterminds behind the £10 million fraud, have been sentenced to 14 years 6 months.
The tobacco factory was concealed in a farm unit in Crook, County Durham where HMRC found 24 tonnes of tobacco, 500,000 cigarettes, and products to make cigarettes.
The prison sentences handed out are as follows:
- John Watson Snr, 30/04/1972, of Ellison Street, Thorne, Doncaster, was found guilty of excise fraud and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on 25 February 2020.
- Russell Haywood, DOB 06/10/1971, of Intake Gardens, Barnsley, admitted excise fraud and was sentenced to four years and three months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on 25 February 2020.
- Terence Jacques, 02/07/1959, of Howlea Lane, Hamsterley, Bishop Auckland, was found guilty of excise fraud and was sentenced to five years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on 25 February 2020.