A business owner has pleaded guilty to possessing thousands of illicit cigarettes and tobacco, following an investigation by Cumbria Trading Standards.
Barry Bray, 74, appeared before Workington’s magistrates’ court on Friday week charged with being in possession of more than 22,000 illicit cigarettes and counterfeit hand-rolling tobacco as part of his business operations.
One of the offences related to 16 50g pouches of fake Amber Leaf hand-rolling tobacco, a second charge to the production and supply of 1,120 packets of Toros 2005 cigarettes which did not contain the appropriate health warning and the production and supply of 1,120 20 cigarette packets of Toros 2005 which did not comply with packaging laws.
The court case has prompted Cumbria County Council’s Trading Standards to pledge that they will continue to take action against those selling such items.
Bray, of Nook Street in Workington, was given a 12-month community order, was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £5,135 in costs.
Councillor Celia Tibble, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for Trading Standards, said: “These are serious criminal offences. Illegal sales of tobacco in Cumbria have a huge impact on people’s health.
“When these counterfeit products are sold, at considerably below the price of the legal product, they undermine the efforts to reduce the prevalence of smoking. They also encourage people who want to quit to maintain their habit.
“We will not tolerate the illegal sales of tobacco and will continue to take firm action to stop this type of activity by using our enforcement powers against those we catch.
“Our officers routinely act on intelligence we receive, as they did in this case, so I would encourage consumers to continue to report those involved in selling illicit tobacco, because their valuable information can significantly aid our investigations.”
Colin Cox, director of public health at Cumbria County Council, said: “Young people are particularly at risk from the illegal trade in selling counterfeit tobacco products.
“I would encourage anyone with information about illegal tobacco sellers to report them to Trading Standards on 0808 223 1133.”
