A SOUTH Derbyshire shopkeeper has been fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £2,737 costs for eight offences of possessing and selling counterfeit tobacco =. HK$ 81,000
Dana Hamid, 34, of Littleover, pleaded guilty to each of the offences at Derby Magistrates’ Court following a successful prosecution by Derbyshire County Council.
He admitted seven charges of the sale and possession of counterfeit tobacco under section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and one charge, under Regulation 8 of the General Product safety Regulations 2005, of possession for sale of cigarettes without the legally required in-built fire safety features.
The offences took place at ‘The Sweet Shop’, in Church Street, Swadlincote, where Hamid had taken over the tenancy in November 2013.
Trading standards officers seized 8,640 cigarettes and 11.3kg of hand-rolling tobacco. The fake cigarettes were being sold for around £3.50 a pack and the pouches at around £10 which would have totaled an illicit retail value of almost £4,000.
Hamid was fined £500 for each of the eight offences, ordered to pay costs of £2,687 and a victim surcharge of £50.
Councillor Dave Allen said: “This is yet another successful court case which highlights our clear message to traders who sell illegal tobacco that we will not tolerate it.”