AN air steward from Warrington has been jailed after running a sophisticated scam to illegally smuggle cigarettes and tobacco worth more than £179,000 into the UK during day trips abroad.

Dennis Connolly used his position with Easy Jet to book 131 discount flights to Spain and Portugal, 'cramming' empty hand luggage with hand-rolled tobacco and cigarettes in hauls of between 20kg and 30kg per trip.

The goods were in illegal amounts, were not declared, and Connolly, aged 45, of Deans Lane, Thelwall, failed to pay tax duty on them.

He also recruited five others to run the importation fraud, including fellow Easy Jet employee Adele Jenkinson, aged 41, of East Avenue, Stockton Heath, his friend of 15 years.

Manchester Crown Court heard today, Wednesday, how Connolly went on flights to Alicante and Malaga to pick up large amounts of tobacco and return to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Jenkinson would also make trips and use her credit card for purchases.

Her boyfriend, Barry Gwynn, aged 39, of East Avenue, Stockton Heath, was one of four men used as a 'mule' by Connolly, boarding flights with empty bags to return with illegal tobacco.

Dale O'Brien, aged 36, from Liverpool; Terence Steele, aged 57, from St Helens; and Paul Rigby, aged 44, of Lovely Lane, Bewsey, formed the rest of the importation gang.

Alexander Leach, prosecuting, said Connolly was the ringleader, using inside information at Easy Jet to inform gang members when border patrol agents would be off-duty.

The scam was in operation between April 2010 and April 2013, the court heard.

On April 17, last year, O'Brien and Rigby, both unemployed, were stopped by border agency officers at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, carrying 29kg of tobacco between them.

On arrest, Rigby tried to claim he had been on holiday, and showed officers sand on a towel, before revealing the flight had been arranged by Connolly.

He would use Connolly's credit card to buy the goods, before dumping it on his return.

Connolly's Thelwall home was raided by police, who found 27kg of tobacco and £1,000 in cash stashed away.

All six of the fraudsters pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal with goods subject to import excise duty.

Connolly, who made 39 trips himself, also pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property.

Recorder Thomas QC said: “You were going out with empty baggage and coming back with bags crammed with goods on which duty had not been paid.

“This was a commercial scale operation.”

The judge added the gang had 'deprived the public purse' with goods that had 'ended up on the black market'.

Desmond Lennon, defending Connolly, said he started the criminal enterprise after the death of his partner and a gambling problem left him in financial difficulty.

The court heard Jenkinson had also suffered money problems following a relationship breakdown, then meeting Gwynn who was also struggling financially after a divorce.

Connolly, who Recorder Thomas said was responsible for the entire £179,000 evaded in excise duty, was jailed for 21 months.

Jenkinson, who along with Gwynn, evaded £30,696 in excise duty, was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years, and 200 hours unpaid work.

Gwynn was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and 120 hours unpaid work.

Rigby, who evaded £24,466.92, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and a three month electronic curfew.

Steele, who evaded £6,558.41, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and 120 hours unpaid work.

O'Brien, who evaded £17,438, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, 120 hours unpaid work, a thinking skills programme and 18 months supervision.