HEADLINES

• Jailed for role in counterfeit tobacco factory
• Final member of RAF cigarette smuggle gang escapes jail
• Scotland: Proposals to ban smoking in cars to protect 'children's health'
• Australia: Cancer Council tips more apartment smoking bans
• Scotland: Councillor's wife caught selling cigarettes to child in sting
• Sark considers smoking ban and other restrictions

• Jailed for role in counterfeit tobacco factory

  Four men have been jailed for their part in setting up an illegal counterfeit tobacco factory worth £1.9 million in unpaid tax duty.

  Over 16 tonnes of raw leaf tobacco which would have been manufactured into hand rolling tobacco was discovered during a raid by HM Revenue & Customs in July 2008. 

  The scam was linked to Bulgaria and in a joint operation, officers from the Bulgarian National Counter Organised Crime Agency simultaneously searched premises in Bulgaria.

  John Kay, HM Revenue & Customs assistant director of criminal investigation, said: “This was a planned fraud on a huge scale. If it had not been stopped the UK market would have been flooded with massive quantities of illegal counterfeit tobacco products".

  Source: Loughborough Echo, 12 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/ibBA2e

• Final member of RAF cigarette smuggle gang escapes jail

  The final member of a gang which smuggled seven million cigarettes into Britain on military flights from the Middle East has been spared jail.
  
  Former RAF serviceman Thomas Warren, 27, received a 12-month suspended term after admitting conspiracy to evade duty on cigarettes.
  
  Three other ex-RAF servicemen and three civilians have already been sentenced.
  
  Adrian Farley, HMRC assistant director criminal investigation, said: "Warren and his co-conspirators abused their positions of trust to smuggle huge quantities of cigarettes into UK airbases and onto the UK's streets. Not only did this criminal gang undercut honest retailers, but, ironically through their actions to evade duty, these airmen deprived the UK and their fellow servicemen and women of vital public funds."

  Source: BBC News, 15 April 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/ejBsUB

• Scotland: Proposals to ban smoking in cars to protect 'children's health'

  Under proposals by Labour smokers who light up in cars while travelling with children could face fines of up to £200.

  Labour plans to consult on whether traffic police should be given the power to issue fix penalties to motorists who fail to stub out cigarettes.

  Supporters of the ban say exposure to cigarettes in cars put children at risk of breathing problems and lung disorders later in life.

  The British Lung Foundation (BLF) claims that exposing children to one cigarette in a car is the same as youngsters spending an evening in a smoky room.

  Source: Scottish Sunday Express, 18 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/eMKFEg

• Australia: Cancer Council tips more apartment smoking bans

  The Cancer Council of South Australia says a ban on smoking inside Australian apartments is "entirely possible and even probable".

  Earlier this month an eight unit apartment block in western Sydney introduced a by-law making the premises completely smokefree.

  Professor Brenda Wilson, the chief executive of Cancer Council SA, predicts it will not be the last.

  She added, "The fact remains that secondhand smoke is harmful. The level of exposure can determine a person's risk and you could imagine many would like to have the choice that their home be a safe haven - something that poses quite a challenge in a shared setting such as apartment blocks".

  Source: ABC News, 18 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/gLurTO

• Scotland: Councillor's wife caught selling cigarettes to child in sting

  A Councillor's wife has been caught selling cigarettes to a 14-year-old child in a sting by trading standards officers from her husband's council.

  Laws came into force on April 1 allowing councils to fine anyone caught selling cigarettes to under-18's.

  Massarrat Butt, 63, is the first shopkeeper to fall foul of new laws to crack down on underage smoking and was issued with a £200 fixed penalty.

  Sheila Duffy of anti-tobacco group ASH Scotland said: "Congratulations to Glasgow for enforcing the law."

  Source: Daily Record, 17 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/eyAQtW

• Sark considers smoking ban and other restrictions

  Smoking in enclosed public spaces could be banned in Sark after a study by the island's medical committee.
  
  The committee has issued a report to the Easter Chief Pleas that also recommends banning the sale of tobacco to under-16s. Sark currently has no laws which govern the sale of tobacco.
  
  A number of bars and cafes have introduced their own no-smoking policies, and the island's medical officer said a ban would improve public health.

  Source: BBC News, 15 April 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/fefjqW