‘Breadwinner’ with ‘good work ethic’ caught smuggling 800 sheets of fake stamps into Manchester Airport

Border Force guards have smashed a plot by a computer science student to smuggle more than £40,000 worth of counterfeit postage stamps into Britain.

Officers stopped 42-year-old UK-based father-of-three Ogbehudia Adun at Manchester Airport after he hid almost 800 sheets of fake first and second class stamps under clothing in his luggage. Initially, Adun claimed the stamps were ”invitations” but he later admitted acquiring the fake items from his native Nigeria to sell on the black market in Britain.

He came back to the UK via Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris and aroused suspicion due to the number of suitcases in his possession. He was also found to be carrying an excessive number of duty free cigarettes. Royal Mail’s security investigators were handed the stamps and later confirmed that they were counterfeits of the Marine Turquoise and Garnet Red stamps first issued by the Royal Mail in 2020 and 2017 respectively.

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At Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday (June 19), Adun, of Bodmin Road in Leeds, West Yorkshire, admitted possession of articles in use for use in fraud and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 15 rehabilitation activity days as part of a 12 month community order. He must also pay the court £500 in costs.

Robert Smith, prosecuting, said: “At around 11.40 on the 12th of September 2021, Border Force officer James Pattison was on duty at terminal 1 of Manchester Airport when he stopped the Defendant, who had arrived on an inbound flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport. The reasons Officer Pattison gives for stopping the Defendant was because he was passing through the border control checkpoint after all the other passengers had already done so.

”He had numerous items of baggage, and because Charles de Gaulle is a transit hub, all of which taken together appear to have aroused the officer’s suspicions. The defendant was asked about the contents of one of his bags and replied to say that he thought they contained invitations. That prompted a further question about whether anybody had given him anything to bring into the country, and he responded, “just those invitations”.

“Officer Pattison opened the bag where he found four, what appeared to be cardboard packages sealed with tape. The packages were beneath some clothing, but otherwise had not been concealed.

“Officer Pattison opened the packages and found what appeared to him to be counterfeit stamps. The paper appeared to be of poor quality and lacked the perforated edges that are normally seen on genuine Royal Mail stamps.

”He also noticed that the stamps had cash values shown on them – namely £2.55 and £1.75 – as opposed to being marked as either first or second class. For reference, the value of genuine first and second-class stamps currently stands at £1.10 and 75p, respectively.

“The contents of the packages included, 577 sheets containing 13,848 £2.55 stamps and 195 sheets each containing an unspecified number of £1.75 stamps.

“Officer Pattison gave the stamps an estimated value of approximately £43,267. Police were contacted and the defendant was arrested. He was interviewed the same day and gave “no comment” answers to all questions asked.

“Following the Defendant’s arrest, the stamps were provided to Paul Ackroyd, who works in Royal Mail’s security department. Having examined the stamps for the concealed security markings which appear on genuine postage stamps, he was able to confirm that they were indeed counterfeits of the Marine Turquoise and Garnet Red stamps first issued in 2020 and 2017 respectively.”

Adun has one previous conviction for drink-driving in 2021. In mitigation, Patrick Williamson said, “The defendant had limited involvement. It is my understanding that he met someone in Nigeria who asked for a favour from him, that being taking a parcel of stamps through customs.

”These stamps were extremely poor quality, and the defendant had bought them back alongside a number of other items. He also bought with him an excessive number of cigarettes, although I know this is a cultural thing. People often try to bring back other things they can’t purchase here.

“He realises now that this was a foolish decision, and when he got to France, he realised the error of his ways. He has expressed remorse to me, especially because of the effect it has had on his family. He has three young children and a partner, who he does not currently live with.

”He shares the caring responsibilities with his partner and was the breadwinner of the family. Since this incident, his drinking habit has also worsened. This is something he wants to address.

“He has a good work ethic and has worked consistently since he first came to the country from Nigeria 12 years ago. He has recently started a computer science course at a college in Leeds city centre and he currently brings home around £1400 a month.”

In sentencing, Judge Angela Nield told Adun: “Those who are fortunate enough to travel overseas and bring back items from another country are under a responsibility to make sure they bring items that do not upset and frustrate the economy.

“It was clear that these items were a poor copy of those stamps that are created for circulation in this country. You knew that, if in the wrong hands, they could have led to a significant cost to the economy.”