Market Trader Given Fine and Curfew for Dangerous Fakes
Manik Golati had large quantity of counterfeit and unsafe goods
A trader at Shepherd's Bush Market has been ordered to pay £5,000 and put under a curfew for possessing fake branded mobile phone covers and dangerous phone chargers.
Manik Singh Golati, 57, was sentenced at West London Magistrates’ Court in February after pleading guilty through an interpreter.
The court case followed an investigation by Hammersmith & Fulham Trading Standards who seized more than 350 counterfeit phone covers of famous brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Apple and Burberry at Mr Golati’s stall in Shepherds Bush Market in February 2012.
When interviewed under caution, Mr Golati, of Sherwood Close, Ealing, told officers he bought the mobile phone covers from another stallholder who traded from Wembley Market.
A second visit in October 2013 uncovered 83 unsafe phone chargers. During the second formal interview, Mr Golati said the chargers were from the original stack that he had bought from the Wembley Market trader and as they had not been seized from him on the first occasion he assumed that they were safe.
Sentencing, magistrates said they had taken the large quantity of counterfeit goods seized as well as the considerable number of unsafe goods into account. But they also took into account the fact he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and was previously of good character.
They imposed a sentence on all 21 charges of three months curfew daily between 10pm and 7am.
Mr Golati was ordered to pay £5,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £60. They also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the items seized by H&F Trading Standards.
Speaking after the case, Councillor Sue Fennimore, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, said: " Unsafe electrical goods can result in serious consequences. Removing these dangerous items from sale may have prevented injury or even loss of life.
" Rogue traders should know that this council is determined to protect residents and we will do everything we can to stop the sale of unsafe goods."
March 2, 2015
