A LORRY driver tried to evade more than £8 million of UK duty payments when he transported thousands of boxes of cigarettes into the country from Poland, a court has heard.

Maciej Wegrzynowski, 58, has denied one count of fraudulently evading provision of the Customs and Excise Acts 1979, with his trial having opened at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday.

On Tuesday, prosecuting barrister Matthew Sorel-Cameron combed through pages of customs documents in court, where Benjamin Laker – a case officer who is part of the team investigating the case for HMRC – appeared in the witness box.

Mr Laker confirmed various details pertaining to what Wegrzynowski had been transporting in his lorry, and when.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Stopped - Wegrzynowski was stopped after an anomaly was detected inside his lorryStopped - Wegrzynowski was stopped after an anomaly was detected inside his lorry (Image: Newsquest)

The court heard how Wegrzynowski, of Bydgoszcz, Poland, was said to have previously transported 20 pallets of water to Hilary’s Wholesale, a fruit and vegetable supplier in Cambridge.

As part of the delivery, Wegrzynowski, arrived in the UK via the port of Harwich on the morning of June 23 – a week before his arrest.

In a witness statement read on behalf of Haley Kelly, the Hilary’s Wholesale office manager, it was explained that no order had ever been received – or even placed – by the company for the water Wegrzynowski was said to be transporting.

The statement, which was read out by Mr Sorel-Cameron, continued: “We did not receive a delivery of water on June 23 – no delivery has ever been made to us.

“The only thing imported by Hilary’s Wholesale from Poland is mushrooms.”

Wegrzynowski returned to the UK one week later on June 30, again with pallets of water, this time bound for Doncaster, North Yorkshire.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Court - the jury heard how thousands of cigarettes had been in Wegrzynowski's lorryCourt - the jury heard how thousands of cigarettes had been in Wegrzynowski's lorry (Image: Newsquest)

It was then that an anomaly was spotted in Wegrzynowski’s trailer, and it was referred for further examination.

A search of the trailer commenced on the morning of June 30, and it was found to contain 495,490 boxes of Richmond blue non-UK duty paid cigarettes, the overall value of which was calculated at £9,909,800.

The amount of UK duty tax Wegrzynowski is alleged to have tried to evade amounts to more than £8 million, the prosecution say.

Further searches of Wegrzynowski’s lorry found a Motorola android phone, a Swisstone phone, travel documents, a debit card, and a diary.

The trial continues.