Man caught at Luton Airport with 20,000 cigarettes said they were all for him and his wife

Peter Bojkun, 56, told a jury that he and his wife smoked five packets a day between them (Picture: Getty/BPM Media)

A man caught with 20,000 cigarettes in two suitcases at Luton Airport tried to claim that they were all for him and his wife.

Peter Bojkun, 56, told a jury that the two of them smoked five packets a day between them.

He said he had bought in bulk to get them through the winter when he tried to get through customs in August 2018.

But he would have avoided paying

£5,817.78 duty payable on bringing them into the country.

Bojkin, from Rugby, bought the cigarettes in Slovakia, where he is originally from and where the packets are much cheaper.

‘I have never sold cigarettes I have brought in,’ he said. ‘The cigarettes would have lasted us four months or less.’

Peter Bojkun had previously been caught with large quantities of cigarettes (Picture: BPM MEDIA)

The arrivals area at London Luton Airport (Picture: Getty)

But he told police previously that he and his wife smoked only two packets a day.

He was also caught bringing in cigarettes to the UK previously, though was not charged on those occasions.

At Dover in 2017 some 42,000 cigarettes were seized, and in April the following year 21,000 were seized, together with his car.

A Warwick Crown Court jury convicted him of evading duty on the most recent haul.

Edmund Blackman, prosecuting, told them Bojkun was stopped by Border Force officers as he went through the blue channel after he arrived at Luton Airport on a flight from Slovakia.

He had a large suitcase and a smaller one which were found to be crammed full of packets of cigarettes, and a small holdall containing personal items.

There were a total of 19,840 cigarettes, with packets of Winston Expression, Benson and Hedges, Winston Blue, and smaller quantities of three other types.

Giving evidence, Bojkun said he had lived in the UK since 2008, but moved between here and Slovakia.

He used to work for Tesco, but was now unable to work after having spinal surgery following an accident in 2016.

Mr Blackman asked: ‘Why does someone who is in and out of the country as regularly as he is need to bring that many back in one go?’

He added: ‘He keeps doing it despite cigarettes being confiscated and, on one occasion, his car.

‘That is not a person wanting to save money, that’s someone taking a calculated risk for profit.’

The jury took less than two hours to find Bojkun guilty.

The case was adjourned for medical and pre-sentence reports to be prepared and Bojkun was granted bail.

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