Crime Solicitors

Newcastle City Council Trading Standards have seized more than 100 suspect mobile phones and accessories with an estimated retail value of £250,000.

The haul includes 26 mini mobile phones shaped like sports cars, which were removed from a shop following a tip-off to the council’s Trading Standards team.

Trading Standards officers also removed counterfeit mobile phone and tablet accessories, including thousands of sheets of replacement glass, cases, chargers, USB cables and adaptors – as well as dozens of mobile phones such as Apple, Samsung, HTC and Nokia, all of which were fake.

Trading Standards says that it is believed the businessman involved in selling the items – which were marked with wellknown trademarks – knew they were counterfeit and sold them as genuine products; when, in fact, they were “cheap, inferior and dangerous” copies.

The retailer concerned claimed to have bought the products in Manchester –
but Trading Standards believe he may have been acting as a wholesaler himself, given the unusually high quantity of goods in his possession.

The seizure is the third success within a week for Newcastle Trading Standards.

Newcastle City Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services, Councillor Nick Kemp, said:

“I’d like to congratulate our Trading Standards team for another stunning success.

“It is paramount that we protect the consumer against illegal and quite often downright dangerous items being sold.

“No one buys a charger with the intention of it bursting into flames, which is why we have to seize these kinds of things.

“I would like to thank those who tipped us off – the council always acts on information it receives.

“The message to people selling counterfeit goods is that we will investigate you, seize your goods – and even prosecute you if we can prove you have broken the law.”

Trading Standards Manager, David Ellerington, added:

“Mobile phone accessories are big business – it can cost £100 to replace the glass in a mobile phone, so the mark-up on these cheap items can be massive.

“The consumer is not getting what they rightly expect – and in some cases can even be putting themselves at risk when it comes to fake electrical items.

“We will send the chargers off for testing to see if they comply with UK electrical safety law – which I doubt very much they will.”

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers

Duncan Lewis criminal lawyers can advise at any stage of a public protection offence, including charges involving selling counterfeit goods, selling illicit alcohol or tobacco products, weights and measures issues, mislabelling offences, food hygiene breaches, selling restricted items to minors and breaches of health and safety regulations.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and in most major cities – and Duncan Lewis can advise on police raids and premises inspections by Trading Standards or local authority fraud teams.

For expert legal advice on public protection offences, call Duncan Lewis criminal lawyers on 0333 772 0409.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.