Trader sold illicit cigs & booze
A BURTON shop owner has been fined more than £1,500 after he was found to be selling illicit alcohol and cigarettes at his store.
Bestoon Khalid Ali, director of Grosik Mini Market in Derby Street, was sentenced at North Staffordshire Justice Centre along with an employee at his business.
Illicit tobacco and alcohol can be particularly harmful to people’s health.
Councillor Gill Heath
A BURTON shop owner has been fined more than £1,500 after he was found to be selling illicit alcohol and cigarettes in his store.
Bestoon Khalid Ali, director of Grosik Mini Market in Derby Street, was ordered to pay a total of £1,537 in fines, costs and a victim surcharge after pleading guilty to three offences between November 3 and December 13 last year.
The charges related to bottles of alcohol and cigarettes that had not had UK duty paid on them.
Kastro Piruti, an employee at the store, was ordered to pay £586 in fines and court costs for an offence of selling prohibited items on December 13.
Ali, 37, of Charnwood Road, Shepshed, and Piruti, 31, of Southworth Road, Derby, were sentenced on Monday at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.
After receiving information, Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards team visited the shop and found 440 illicit cigarettes on sale. They had no health warning. They also found 19 bottles of illicit vodka, branded Krupnik and Zubrowka, the court was told.
Communities leader at the authority Councillor Gill Heath said after the case: “Illicit tobacco and alcohol can be particularly harmful to people’s health as they do not comply with safety and consumer regulations.
“They also evade tax which ultimately affects public services and their sale can fund criminal gangs. We are pleased therefore that our trading standards team has brought another successful prosecution which has removed illicit produce from sale and helped to protect legitimate businesses. Anyone with information about the sale of illegal goods is asked to call 01785 330356.