28 Nov Man admits selling fake branded cigarettes
Abdul Rahman Bayz Tahsin of Crathrone Crescent, Middlesbrough has admitted selling fake Richmond, Marlboro, L&M and Benson and Hedges cigarettes.
The 41-year-old man attended Teesside Magistrates Court on Wednesday 21st November as he spoke through a Kurdish interpreter, pleading guilty to 23 offences.
Andrew Perriman who spoke on behalf of Middlesbrough Council said, “There are 23 offences, 17 are labelling offences – essentially the cigarettes didn’t have the correct markings on them”. Other offences included trademark and technical offences.
The total haul by trading standards officers amounted to 950g of rolling tobacco, 3,620 cigarettes, and ten lots of Shisha.
Tests made on the products established that the cigarettes that were claimed to be Richmond, Marlboro, L&M and Benson and Hedges were not genuine, resulting in an uncertainty of the product’s ingredients which could have resulted in serious harm to the users.
Stephen Hall, chairman of the bench examined the seriousness of the offences and ordered that the court would require a report to be prepared in order to reach a final judgement on Tahsin’s sentence.
As a result of this, the sentencing of Mr Tahsin has been adjourned until November 28th.
