A WROUGHTON man accused of tobacco smuggling faces a retrial, which is due to begin today.
A jury at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent had to be discharged after one of the jurors revealed that he thought he recognised one of the three defendants.
Abraham Smith, 52, of Hay Lane, Wroughton, denies one charge of evading duty.
He is jointly charged with Jazsef Gulyas, 70, of Manor Street, Steeton Hall, Wolverhampton, who denies five charges of evading duty, and Nicholas Hever, 41, from London Road West, Kingsdown, Kent, who had denied one charge.
The prosecution said that between March 2001 and February 2003, more than £1.7 million of duty had been lost, with hundreds of thousands of cigarettes being smuggled in large consignments.
The previous trial in Kent collapsed last month and a new jury is due to be sworn in this morning.
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