It seems clear that Tom was cheating the system by claiming back tax that should have been due. Whether it was technically illegal is almost irrelevant - it's clearly taking the piss out of the system, but then I'm not going to judge...

Anyway, what about my question - am I really going to be in trouble if I get the forms stamped (or whatever is required) at the Lorrach office and then turn around to go back to the shop for the refund? As I mentioned, I did this once around 15 years ago, when I'd bought some new motorbike leathers there, with no repurcusions, so in practice, looking at people who've actually done this, do they really make a big deal of crossing the border straight away?