A trusted member of a bootlegger's inner circle has been jailed for four years for his part in a £23 million duty fraud.

Graham West, of London Road, Marks Tey, was one of the main suppliers of alcohol to the organisation run from behind bars by "mastermind" Ellis Martin. The outfit made £18 million profit.

London's Southwark Crown Court on Thursday heard Went, 55, launched a business, GW Exports, at Martin's behest.

He also ran a Calais warehouse as part of the overall fraud and attended prison board meetings with Martin - who was serving a sentence for a similar offence.

Jailing Went, Judge Christopher Elwen said: "You were a trusted member of the inner circle of this sophisticated criminal enterprise."

The defendant, convicted by a jury of conspiracy to defraud last year, is said to have earned £3.6 million.

Confiscation of his assets is due to take place this month. The judge told Went he had played a "significant part" in the fraud.

Martin's gang of eight received jail sentences totalling 32 years after they were all convicted of conspiracy to defraud between October 1994 and January 1996.

Among the gang was Walter Alfrey, 56, of Wilson Lane, Marks Tey, who received a five-year penalty. He was ordered to repay £500,000 or serve a further two years behind bars.

One other member of the gang, Peter Brown, 54, of Poole in Dorset, is still to be sentenced.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.