In The Crown Prosecution Service v Robert Doran and Patrick Gray [2015] EWCA Crim 384 (17 March 2015) the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against a confiscation order.
Both defendants had pleaded guilty to an indictment charging them with conspiracy to evade the duty payable on the importation of cigarettes (Criminal Law Act 1977 s 1(1)) and a confiscation order had been issued by the Crown Court under POCA 2002 ss 6 and 7. Both taxpayers were appealing against the confiscation order.
The plea of guilty to conspiracy did not itself constitute an admission that the duty had been evaded. The court therefore had to decide whether on a balance of probabilities the appellants had caused the goods to reach Felixstowe port (the duty point) and had kept the ‘the required connection’ with the goods when the vessel entered the port (The Tobacco Products Regulations 2001...
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