Fake cig tsar caught with 2m counterfeits told cops they were for 'personal use'

14 February 2024 , 18:52

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The man claimed the two million counterfeit cigarettes were for ‘personal use’ (Image: HMRC)

A man who kept 2m counterfeit cigarettes for gangsters was jailed after he claimed they were for ‘personal use’.

Norman Kay was locked up by a judge who told him that would have meant him smoking ‘more than 100 a day for 100 years’. Kay was responsible for a storage unit where the cigarettes were held,

Newcastle Crown Court heard. The HMRC said Kay and his associates evaded paying tax worth about £630,000. Kay, 39, admitted keeping goods with intent to defraud payable duty.

Judge Tim Gittins said Kay’s personal use claim was “clearly nonsense”. The cigarettes belonged to an organised crime group.

Norman Kay was jailed for 30 months (HMRC)

HMRC officers raided a unit at a storage warehouse in Birtley, Co Durham in 2019 where they found the non-UK duty paid cigarettes. Lee Fish, prosecuting, said there were some 2,110,000 Richmond and Marlboro Gold branded cigarettes, all counterfeit. The unit had been rented by Kay in 2019 and CCTV showed him making multiple visits. Officers found more illegal cigarettes in his home.

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When he was arrested, he told police all the cigarettes at both his home and in the unit were for his own use, but later admitted looking after them for a gang. The court heard Kay, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, had previous convictions, including for benefit fraud for which he received a suspended sentence.

Judge Gittins said the cigarette haul had been “vast” and Kay had played a “vital part” in the criminal scheme. He jailed him for 30 months.

Jeremy Armstrong