Burger van owner Stuart Whellen became worried when his once-thriving business began to decline.

So he jumped at the chance of buying smuggled vodka, wine, tobacco and cigarettes to sell from his six vans throughout Basildon. But he failed to pay customs duty on the massive haul -- and today Whellen started a year's jail sentence.

In addition, his business was in ruins, money set aside for retirement was gone and he still owed the taxman £5,000, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Customs officers found £24,000 under his bed when they raided his home at Nevendon Road, Wickford. They also found more than 18,000 cigarettes.

Other amounts of cash were found in the property and are believed to belong to relatives. Whellen, 55, admitted evading more than £18,000 duty for the goods he bought from a lorry driver.

He said he virtually ran the burger business on his own from Wickford Gas Supply in Russell Gardens. His wife acted as secretary.

In the good years his turnover soared to more than £90,000. In the last year it was less than half that figure, said his barrister Rupert Burke. He added: "He sadly gave in to temptation."

"It was too great for him and he could not say 'No'. He was not the only trader in the area making a profit from these illegal goods. After he was arrested for these matters he was left with just one burger van."

The court heard that customs recovered 18,800 cigarettes, 19.83 kilograms of hand-rolled tobacco, 1,152 litres of vodka and 447 litres of wine.

Assistant Recorder John Hillen told Whellen he seemed unrepentant. His prison sentence should act as a deterrent to others, particularly as Britain had a loss of nearly £1 billion a year in excise duty.

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