Amanda McNally & Coleen McNally v Commissioners of Customs and Excise

Facts

The appellants were Colleen McNally and her daughter Amanda McNally, whose appeals were directed to be heard together. On 26 April 2003 excise goods were seized from them at Dover: in Colleen McNally's case 3160 cigarettes, 2 kilograms of hand rolling tobacco, 81 litres of wine and 11 litres of spirits; in Amanda McNally's case 3180 cigarettes and 2 kilograms of hand rolling tobacco. In each case the quantities fell within the minimum indicative limits then applied by the Commissioners as guidelines of reasonable quantities for personal consumption. The appellants requested restoration of the goods, which the Commissioners refused, and that refusal was upheld on review by Officer Richard Truscott. The seizure and the review turned less on the quantities carried on that occasion than on the appellants' recent travel history: Amanda McNally had been stopped at Liverpool airport on 5 February 2003 with, according to the Commissioners, 6000 cigarettes, which she was allowed to retain, and both appellants were intercepted at Liverpool airport on 15 March 2003 with 10,000 cigarettes between them, said at the time to be enough to last six months. They appealed to the tribunal against the refusal to restore, representing themselves at the hearing.