A man has been fined for aggressively selling goods door-to-door at Eden Valley village homes as a pedlar after being prosecuted under a criminal law passed more than 150 years ago.
Jason Caswell, 36, was one of four men to be prosecuted after incidents were reported to police on January 24.
Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court that a constable was in a marked patrol vehicle at around 2.10pm carrying out observations with men reported to be selling items aggressively, door-to-door in the Armathwaite and Calthwaite areas.
Three men found inside a vehicle were approached and all admitted they had been selling cleaning products in the area.
Caswell, the fourth man, was said to be in the Calthwaite area. And when he was spoken to, he also admitted he had been selling goods without the pedlar’s certificate needed to do so.
That is a requirement of the 1871 Pedlars Act which was introduced in the 19th century to governing the peddling trade, and remains in force.
When Caswell appeared in court over a video link from his parents’ Teesside address, he pleaded guilty to acting as a pedlar without a certificate.
District Judge John Temperley heard he had a similar previous conviction on his record dating back several years. Asked if he wished to comment in light of the most recent offence, Caswell, of Valley Road, Middlesbrough, said simply: “It won’t happen again.”
He was fined £80 and must also pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 mandatory surcharge.
- Three other men from the Middlesbrough area facing the same charge had their cases adjourned until May 30.
