A FORMER Isle businessman was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison at Southwark Crown Court today for illegally selling ex-military vehicles to Sudan, following a successful prosecution by Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO).
Andrew Jackson (46), who used to live in Westwoodside, is the owner of Jackson & Co Ltd, a company in Misson.
His employee, Steven Smithey (28) of Epworth Road in Haxey, received a 35 week sentence suspended for two years.
Smithey was also sent
enced to 150 hours community service, starting immediately.
The two men pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to illegally exporting 15 Hagglund BV206 personnel carriers to the war-torn country.
These vehicles are manufactured in Sweden for military and civilian use and each one can, with its trailer, carry up to 17 people.
They are purposefully designed with a low weight displacement, making them ideal for driving where there are no hard roads or over uneven surfaces such as snow or sand, which makes them perfect for military
use.
In March 2004, the UK Government introduced the Trade in Controlled Goods (Embargoed Destinations Order) 2004.
The purpose of this order was in part to restrict the supply of equipment with military capabilities to designated areas of conflict.
A special licence is required to export these vehicles to certain destinations such as war-torn countries like Sudan, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
More than two years worth of work by prosecutors and investigators, including foreign enquiries to Norway, the destination, to which the goods were diverted, resulted in compelling evidence being obtained that a contract between Jackson & Co Ltd and Sudan had been fulfilled.
L. Jackson & Co was found to be a long standing company, which prided itself on involvement in the supply of used, refurbished and new ex-Ministry of Defence and NATO vehicles and machinery.
Julie Snell, prosecuting lawyer for RCPO said: "I am delighted with this result, which represents over two years of hard word by the RCPO prosecution team. The sentence sends out a stark warning to criminals that illegally exporting military equipment will not be tolerated."
Hamish Falconer, founder and director of Sudan Divestment UK, stated: "Credible reporting indicates that the violence in Darfur may have claimed over 300,000 lives and displaced over 2 million people since 2004.
"While a number of rebel Darfuri groups have been responsible for violence, a great proportion of the violence and displacement which has characterised the events in Darfur of the last few years was orchestrated by the Government through the use of informal 'janjaweed' militias, armed largely with light machine guns on horseback or in light vehicles, and bombing attacks by the Government of Sudan's air force."
RCPO is now pursuing confiscation proceedings against Jackson.
