A factory worker has been sentenced after he hid bags of illicit tobacco and cigarettes down an embankment of a Lanarkshire motorway.
Ayub Said, 41, was caught following a crash with a HGV on the M74 near Abington, South Lanarkshire on September 9, 2018.
While Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service were on route to the scene, Said, of Coventry, climbed out of the driver-side window and carried laundry bags and cardboard boxes from his car and down the motorway embankment.
When they arrived, officers carried out a search of the area and discovered the bags and boxes about five metres down the embankment. Inside, they found 99.5 kilos of tobacco and 35,000 cigarettes.
The case was referred to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators and the goods were seized. Said refused to answer any questions when he was interviewed.
He pleaded guilty to Excise Duty fraud on March 10 at Lanark Sheriff Court and was sentenced before the same court earlier this week.
Said was put on a community payback order which requires him to 260 hours of unpaid work, to be completed within 12 months as well as being electronically tagged for four months.
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