Shopkeeper, Chandrasegaram Satheeswaran was fined £3,000 for selling tobacco illegally. He was found guilty of three trading standards offences on April 28 at Willesden Magistrates Court.
He was charged with two counts of failing to display the correct health warnings on packets, as well as charged for failing to display the correct notice in shop to prohibit tobacco sale to anyone under the age of 18.
Trading Standards officers and HMRC visited the shop in September 2014. They discovered and seized 34 packets of cigarettes. An additional 374 pouches of chewing tobacco, along with more than 2,000 litres of alcohol were also seized for being incorrectly labelled. They had no duty paid and were found behind as well as under the counter.
Satheeswaran admitted to breaking the law, although he blamed his mysterious supplier ‘Rajesh’, whom he failed to describe properly during the case. The shopkeeper has previously been convicted for selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 in 2012. He was also cautioned for selling alcohol after the permitted hours, as well as allowing a person to drink alcohol in the shop.
A Harrow spokesperson stated, “Despite being cautioned and convicted of similar offences in the past, this shopkeeper [ Chandrasegaram Satheeswaran] has failed to comply with the law again. Not only could this have potentially put customers at risk, but it is unfair to other businesses that are trading properly. We are pleased this individual has been charged again and we hope that it sends a strong message to other individuals and businesses.”
Satheeswaran had to pay a total of £3,251, which included a £1,000 fine for the cigarette packets having no English labels, £1,000 for the incorrect labelling on tobacco, as well as £100 for victim surcharge and £1,151 in legal costs.
