Former Halesowen Town chief jailed for smuggling

The former boss of a West Midlands football club who took part in one of the country's biggest cigarette smuggling crimes has been jailed for five and half years.

Guy Simpson, who used to be chief executive of Southern League Premier Division side Halesowen Town, helped organise the shipment from China which was loaded in two 40ft containers.

These held more than 21 million counterfeit cigarettes.

He admitted at an earlier hearing to fraudulently avoiding duty totalling £4.5 million on the shipment.

The 53-year-old, of Flag Lane, Heath Charnock, Lancashire, was arrested after a routine scan of the container at Southampton docks found the fake Regal brand. They were on board the Maersk Algol which arrived in Southampton from China on December 13, 2008.

Mr Tim Moores, prosecuting, told Southampton Crown Court that the containers were registered to Simpson's company BS Property Developments (North West) Ltd and were supposed to hold gym balls.

When customs said the containers were to be scanned, the barrister said Simpson panicked and "started to take steps to cover his tracks" because he had organised the shipment and completed all the paperwork.

Customs officers found the containers "full to the brim" with the cigarettes, taking a team a whole day to unload them, and Simpson was arrested.

"This was one of the largest duty evasion offences this country has ever seen," Mr Moores told the court.

At the time Simpson's business empire was failing and he was significantly in debt, the court heard. Mr Moores said the businessman was involved with Halesowen Town but had ambitions to put himself forward to Premier League managers and agents.

In mitigation, Mr Andrew Hallworth, said the offence was "motivated by financial difficulties".