December 1, 2016 2.38 pm This story is over 87 months old

Grantham couple sentenced for selling illegal cigarettes

A Grantham husband and wife have been convicted of selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco from two houses in the town. Mick and Anne Embling were sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, November 28, after a joint operation between Lincolnshire Trading Standards and police. Officers found 10kg of tobacco and more than 26,000 cigarettes with…
Lincoln Magistrates Court on the High Street. | Photo: The Lincolnite

A Grantham husband and wife have been convicted of selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco from two houses in the town.

Mick and Anne Embling were sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, November 28, after a joint operation between Lincolnshire Trading Standards and police.

Officers found 10kg of tobacco and more than 26,000 cigarettes with foreign labels following raids on Goodliff Road and Welland Court.

Mick Embling, 48, pleaded guilty to two counts under the Trademarks Act in relation to counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco, and two counts under the Fraud Act for failure to pay excise duty.

Embling also pleaded guilty to possessing unsafe cigarettes, contrary to the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

He was sentenced to nine weeks custody on each of the four counts to run consecutively and suspended for two years.

Anne Embling, 42, pleaded guilty to one count under the Fraud Act for evasion of paying excise duty, and was sentenced to a 24 month Community Order with 24 months of supervision.

Ian Newell, business and public protection manager at Lincolnshire Trading Standards, said: “This couple were selling large quantities of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, both of which can be extremely hazardous to people’s health.

“People who bought these products have no way of knowing what’s in the tobacco and the cigarettes are much more likely to start a fire as they don’t self-extinguish.

“I’d like to thank the public for bringing traders of illegal tobacco to our attention, and encourage them to continue doing so.”