CPS reports lorry driver found guilty of £2.4m excise duty fraud

Article summary

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reported that a lorry driver, Timothy James Goodlad, has been found guilty of fraudulent evasion of duty at Winchester Crown Court on 12 September 2023. The CPS has stated that Goodlad was stopped by Border Force Officers at the Eurotunnel UK Control Zone in France where it was found that the lorry contained 8,319,400 cigarettes instead of the laminate wood that Goodlad's documentation provided for. Goodlad denied knowledge that the lorry contained the cigarettes when interviewed and provided details of where the load had been collected from. The lorry’s tracking system conflicted with Goodlad’s account and prosecutors presented this, along with other evidence, to the jury to prove guilt. The CPS has asserted that the excise duty that should have been paid was calculated at £2,448,492.