A man has narrowly avoided jail despite being caught with 85,000 illegal cigarettes.

Shirwan Jabar, 30, of Dunholme Road in Edmonton admitted possession of 4,250 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on July 19.

On September 4 last year, Jabar was stopped by police unloading boxes from his van outside a shop in London Road, St Leonards after they received reports of a vehicle being driven erratically.

East Sussex Trading Standards found in excess of 4,000 cartons of cigarettes illegally bearing the trademarks of two well-known brands which must, by UK law, display plain packaging.

During the hearing Jabar said he had been unaware the cigarettes were counterfeit, to which District Judge Tessa Szagun said Jabar must have been “astonishingly naïve or stupid” if he thought that was the case.

The judge considered his crime serious enough to justify imprisonment but Jabar received a suspended sentence due to a guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.

He was given a 24-week prison term suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to take 240 hours unpaid community service and to pay costs of £1,927 plus a £115 victim surcharge.

Cllr Bill Bentley, East Sussex County Council lead member for communities and safety, said: “We take the supply of illegal tobacco very seriously and will do everything in our power to tackle this problem and protect our residents.

“This prosecution should send out a warning to anyone involved in this illegal activity, which can be linked to organised crime and criminal gangs involved in drug dealing, money laundering and people trafficking.

“We need to keep the pressure up on those who continue to sell illegal tobacco products, and residents can play their part, and help us keep these products off the streets, by reporting it to us.”

Anyone with information about the supply of illegal tobacco is asked to report it by calling the Illegal Tobacco Hotline on 0300 999 6999 or by using the Trading Standards online reporting form at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/business/tradingstandards/report/