A Northern Ireland lorry driver smuggled 1.28 million cigarettes worth £185,120 through Rosslare port last December, Wexford Circuit Court was told yesterday. Judge Olive Buttimer was told the defendant, Clayton John Stevens, Woodland Park, Moss Road, Lambay, Lisburn, Co Antrim, was pleading guilty. Ms Deirdre Murphy, prosecuting, said Stevens was returning from Spain, having delivered a consignment of fish. He had been directed to another location to collect a consignment of lamb. Having loaded the lamb, he went to another location, where he had the lamb removed, the cigarettes loaded and the lamb put back on top of them. He was apprehended by customs officers at Rosslare. The court was told Stevens, a married man with three young children, lost his job as a result. He had a conviction for illegally importing cigarettes into Northern Ireland last July, as a result of which he was fined £2,000. Judge Buttimer fined Stevens £555,360 and imposed a two-year suspended sentence.