156 litres of wine but no import duty paid

Tuesday 26 June 2018

A woman now has a criminal record and has been ordered to pay duty after she brought 156 litres of wine and 18 litres of spirits into Guernsey without declaring it to the Guernsey Border Agency.

Rita Gray, 48, pled guilty to the charge of failing to declare alcoholic beverages to Guernsey Border Control on arrival into the island. The goods had been purchased with the intention of selling them in her cafe in the Bordage.

Gray returned to Guernsey from St Malo via Jersey on 29 January 2018 and was stopped by the Guernsey Border Agency where she was asked if she had anything to declare.

She directed officers to items stacked high in her car including wine, beers, and spirits and she told them she had paid the duty on them via Government e-Marketplace (GeM). GeM is an online portal which means those often purchasing large amounts of items which may require duty can do it quickly via an online app, including paying the duty required.

Officers looked into her vehicle which was described as being "stacked with produce from Portugal for sale in her cafe from floor to ceiling". They noted a number of alcoholic goods in groups.

The first volume of alcohol comprised of 72.48 litres of beer and 49.5 litres of wine, which the court heard had been fully declared and duty of £200 had been paid.

In another area of the vehicle were 156 litres of wine and 18 litres of spirits for which no paperwork was attributed to and the duty - which would have amounted to £665.40 - had not been paid. With the items was a receipt which totalled €900.

Pictured: The shop and cafe in the Bordage.

Gray said her husband had dealt with the paperwork and she was unable to explain why the duty had not been paid on these items. Later during questioning she said that it was an oversight and she had made a mistake.

In her defence it was argued that Gray was a person of previous good character and it had not been her intention to evade duty on the goods. It was stated that the mistake came about from sloppy or careless administration.

In sentencing Judge Graeme McKerrell said legislation was in place to discourage sloppy or careless administration and that if a driver had driven without insurance then they would have to be punished even if this was due to a legitimate paperwork error and similarly this partial disclosure was an offence that needed punishment.

He ordered Gray to pay the £665.40 in duty and this matter would be on her criminal record.