Frenchman jailed for importing cheese
A Frenchman was jailed for 28 days for smuggling cheese into Britain.Hussein Aref, 45, is the first person to be put behind bars for the illegal importation of foodstuffs into this country.

The Egyptian-born French national was caught by customs officers at Heathrow Airport trying to bring in 88 kilogrammes of cheese, hidden in four separate bags. Aref, who is based in Paris and describes himself as a food and commodoties trader, had travelled from Egypt via Bucharest and arrived at Heathrow's Terminal 2 at lunchtime on Wednesday.

He was stopped as he walked through the green 'nothing to declare' channel. When his bags were searched, four roundels of hard cheese, each with a bright orange rind, were uncovered.

Aref admitted he had bought the cheese in Egypt and intended to sell half of it in Britain before taking the rest on to France. He pleaded guilty to illegally importing cheese.

Uxbridge magistrates branded his actions "a danger to the food chain."

Customs spokesman Bob Gaiger said: "This is the first time we have obtained a custodial sentence for the importation of foodstuffs. Usually people get fines. But in this case the court regarded 88 kg as a very large amount of food and handed down a much harsher punishment."