Anthony Bower and Neil Pickering have sentences cut

Boxes of Gold Classic cigarettes seized

Anthony Bower and Neil Pickering have had their prison sentences cut today (Thursday 23 October) after a judge said their original sentences were too excessive.

Bower, 52, and Pickering, 37, were caught out when customs officers foiled a tobacco smuggling scam which could have cost the public £3.2 million.

Bower, of Yew Dale Gardens, was jailed for 45 months in May. His sentence was cut to 27 months.

Pickering, of Fairway, was originally jailed for 40 months. His sentence was cut to 24 months.

Mr Justice Spencer, Lord Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Supperstone said their original sentences were excessive.

Mr Justice Spencer said: “Applying a discount of 25% for a guilty plea in each case, we reduce Bower’s sentence to 27 months and Pickering’s sentence to 24 months.”

The court heard that customs officers had seized 15.5m cigarettes and three kilos of rolling tobacco in an operation in December 2011. The goods were found at a set of industrial units in vehicles in Queensway, Rochdale.

In today’s judgement, it was stated that the total loss to the public revenue in unpaid duty would have been £3.2 million.

The two men were said to be trusted employees of those running the operations. Bower, who was moving boxes of goods when the raid took place claimed he was only due to be paid £500 for his role. Pickering, who said he loaded and drove a van, claimed he would have received £50.

When sentenced in May, they were sentenced on the basis that they played ‘significant’ roles in the operation.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/87002/anthony-bower-and-neil-pickering-jailed-for-part-in-cigarette-smuggling-operation