Veteran BA pilot fined for smuggling

Published on 17/11/2012 00:00

A BRITISH Airways pilot has been fined £1,500 after admitting smuggling thousands of cigarettes and 20 litres of spirits into the UK.

Andrew Creelman, 54, of Bishopton, Renfrewshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly evading paying duty at City of Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Creelman, a non-smoker and a pilot for 23 years, admitted evading more than £5,600 in taxes by smuggling 16,400 cigarettes and 20 litres of rum on regular flights from Switzerland.

Lisa Rose, specialist prosecutor for the CPS Central Fraud Division, said: “Captain Creelman, who did not smoke, knew that smuggling was a serious offence and failed to declare the tobacco that he brought into the country at airports.”