Shop owner and his co-worker fined for illicit tobacco sale

A SHOP owner and an employee have been ordered to pay fines and costs after trading standards officers discovered counterfeit tobacco for sale at their premises.

Amin Ismail Amin, 50, of Reeves Road, Derby, is the owner of Castle Superstore in Market Street, in Tamworth.

He was ordered to pay £3,005 in fines, costs and a victim surcharge after pleading guilty to two offences of selling counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes in June 2019.

His employee, Mahdi Ahmed Hamid, of Stockbrook Street, Derby, previously entered guilty pleas to similar offences and was ordered to pay £382 in fines and costs for possessing similar items on March 3.

Following intelligence, Staffordshire County Council’s Trading Standards service visited the shop in August 2019 and found 3,140 counterfeit cigarettes and 700g of hand rolling tobacco.

The items, which had no UK health warnings, were concealed within a secret, purpose-built hide in the sales counter.

Victoria Wilson, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards, said: “Illicit tobacco and alcohol can be particularly harmful to people’s health as they do not comply with safety and consumer regulations.

“The sale of Illicit and counterfeit goods also evades tax, which ultimately affects public services and their sale can fund criminal gangs.

“We are pleased that our trading standards team has brought another successful prosecution, which has not only removed illicit produce from sale but helped to protect legitimate businesses, too.”

The pair were sentenced at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Anyone with information about the sale of illicit goods can call Staffordshire’s confidential trading standards line on 01785 330356.