An RAF serviceman who was found to have been illegally smuggling cigarettes into Britain threw himself a fun fancy dress party as a send-off before jail, it has emerged.

Aircraftman Paul Garbutt was one of three men found to have been transporting the contraband from the Middle East to the UK who got found out by the authorities.

After pleading guilty, he decided to have a get-together with his pals and showed he had a sense of humour about the whole thing by wearing prisoner fancy dress, the Mirror reports.

He designed posters showing a photo of himself behind bars and invited a crowd of people to his airbase, giving the bash a 'cigarettes and alcohol' theme.

They all partied until the early morning ahead of Mr Garbutt being sentenced to three years and four months in prison on Friday (February 4th 2010).

"Top brass will go bananas," an RAF source remarked.

Earlier this month, RAF chef Phiwi Dolo was also involved in a fancy dress incident, getting in trouble with police after waving a toy gun at them because he thought he was flagging down a taxi.