Legal News

City of Wolverhampton Council's Trading Standards department has prosecuted a company which sold dangerous electrical appliances, some of which were sold covered in bird lime.

At Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court, Harbans Lal, 54 – the owner of East and West Aid of Moor Street South in Blakenhall – pleaded guilty to breaching consumer protection and unfair trading regulations.

The company itself, also a registered charity, faced an identical charge and pleaded guilty.

Hal – of Regent Road in Penn – was fined £200 and also ordered to pay costs of £2,622.

The court heard that City of Wolverhampton Council's Trading Standards team visited East and West Aid on several occasions in 2016.

Officers, accompanied by a qualified electrician, carried out safety checks on items that were for sale and found various unsafe items – including cookers with missing panels, faulty plugs and a dented microwave covered in bird lime with a door which did not close, making it dangerous.

The team also found nine tumble dryers of a type which had caused house fires elsewhere and required modification to make them safe. They had not been modified and were seized by Trading Standards officers.

After receiving advice from Trading Standards, the company claimed it had started to carry out safety checks on items it was selling and keeping records.

However, when officers carried out a random test on a fridge/freezer listed in a book as having passed a test, its plug was found to have no clamp and exposed wires.

The council told the court that Lal and his employees were fully aware of their safety obligations – but chose to sell items which were dangerous and could have caused fires.

Trading Standards had provided advice to Lal and the company on several occasions, which had been ignored.

District Judge Michael Wheeler said the evidence the council uncovered was “damning” – and concluded the shop claimed safety tests had been carried out, when they had not.

City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for city environment, Councillor Steve Evans, said:

“This company has flagrantly ignored laws which exist to keep people safe.

“They have sold dangerous items, which could have caused fires – and they made up the results of safety tests to make a quick buck.

“The council's Trading Standards team has successfully prosecuted Lal and the company – and the sentence handed down by the court sends out a message to other rogue traders that such behaviour will be rightly punished.”

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, breaches of health and safety regulations – and selling or offering for sale produce which fails to meet minimum quality standards.

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.

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