Darren Lee Dickinson v Commissioners of Customs and Excise

Facts

Mr Darren Lee Dickinson was driving a Rover 820 off the ferry at Dover Eastern Docks on 1 July 2001 when officers of HM Customs and Excise waved him, together with four or five other cars, into a slip road. He declared tobacco, cigarettes and beer, and was carrying three boxes of Golden Virginia tobacco weighing 18kg in total and four cases of Fosters lager, roughly half of the excise goods having been bought by his passenger, Mr Jason Elliott. The vehicle and the goods were seized. By letter of 19 July 2001 the Commissioners refused to restore them, and on 5 September 2001 Mr Martin Hulbert, a Review Officer, confirmed that refusal on a review carried out under section 14 of the Finance Act 1994. Mr Dickinson appealed under section 16 of the Finance Act 1994, serving his appeal on 18 September 2001. The hearing, originally listed for 22 April 2002 and postponed to 23 October 2002, was preceded by an application from the Commissioners, made on 1 October 2002, to vacate it so that a re-review could follow the Court of Appeal's judgment in Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Hoverspeed and Others, then listed for November. Mr Dickinson objected, wanting the matter concluded, and the tribunal heard the application at the outset of the hearing.