Fined for selling illegal goods

A man from Prescot has been fined £8,000 for illegally selling alcohol and counterfeit cigarettes.

Stephen Henry, 61, today on Friday 24th June, pleaded guilty at Knowsley Magistrates’ Court to two offences of selling counterfeit tobacco and one offence of selling alcohol without a licence.

Mr Henry, of Westminster Grove in Prescot, was offering the goods as part of his business selling soft drinks and crisps door to door.

Police officers seized almost 44,000 cigarettes, more than 31kg of hand rolling tobacco and 340 litres of alcohol, along with £5,000 in cash and notebooks detailing his customers.

Investigations by Knowsley Council’s Trading Standards Team and the North West Regional Illicit Tobacco Team revealed that a large quantity of the seized tobacco was counterfeit.

In addition to fines totalling £8,015, the Magistrates also instructed that all of the counterfeit items seized should be destroyed.

Cllr Ken Keith, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services, said: “This case should send out a clear message that we will not tolerate the trade of illegal tobacco and alcohol. Counterfeit goods like tobacco carry very real health risks, because the contents are often unknown.

“Counterfeiting costs the economy a lot of money and the real victims are legitimate businesses who sell genuine goods and lose out to cheap, illegal imitations.

“Anyone with information regarding the trade of illegal products should contact Trading Standards on 0151 443 4737.”