Thief is jailed after stealing £5k worth of illegal cigarettes
A thief who stole £5,000 worth of counterfeit cigarettes because he had not been paid for the haul was starting an eight-month jail sentence today.
Farhan Sharratt and another man were spotted leaping over a fence and dragging a wheelie bin away from a flat that had been broken into, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The property in Stafford Street, Walsall had been converted into a store room, explained Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting.
The 35-year-old defendant hid after police were called, but was found by a tracker dog near the scene of the July 25 burglary with the wheelie bin.
It was packed with boxes of Benson and Hedges and Mayfair branded cigarettes.
There was also an allegation that £2,000 cash had been stolen but the alleged victim of the theft had not been prepared to make a statement about this to police, the court was told. Sharratt's accomplice has not been traced.
Mr Jones told the court: "The flat concerned was not habitable and was being used as a storage facility.
"Two men were seen jumping over a gate and dragging something behind them. Police were called and released a dog which found the defendant and a wheelie bin that was full of cigarettes.
"He told police that the cigarettes were counterfeit goods he had retrieved them because he had not been paid for getting them. I cannot satisfy the court that the cigarettes were not counterfeit, although inquiries are continuing into that matter."
The alleged owner of the cigarettes failed to provide evidence that showed they had been obtained legitimately.
Sharratt, whose wife is seven months pregnant, had several previous convictions including one from stealing cigarettes from a store in Cardiff where he lived.
It also emerged that he is an illegal stayer in the UK who now faces the prospect of deportation.
Miss Jodie Smith, defending, maintained: "It has always been the understanding that these were counterfeit cigarettes."
Sharratt, from Llanmaes Street, Cardiff pleaded guilty to burglary and was sent to prison by Judge Nicholas Cartwright, who told him: "I will sentence you on your version of events, that you were stealing back something by way of burglary. You had provided the cigarettes and not been paid for them. You knew they were counterfeit and intended to put them back into public circulation."
