BY ERIC KING
Officers from Brent council trading standard have slapped a huge fine of over £1,600 on a shop found sellling illegal oral tabacco products.
Jaydeep Bharat Thakkar,34, who runs Sangit Paan House on Wembley High Road, was ordered to pay a joint total of £1602.40 in fines and costs by judges at Willesden magistrates court after he and his business were found guilty of selling cigarettes without legally required health warnings. The illegal tobacco is believed to have been smuggled from abroad, since no UK based tobacco company would have been stupid enough not to have danger warnings on their products
The court heard that in May 2015, Brent Council’s Trading Standards officers visited the shop tand found 32 packets of ‘Marlboro Red,’ 25 packets of ‘Marlboro Gold,’ 16 packets of Jin Ling, 11 packets of Camel, and three packets of ‘Victory’ cigarettes on sale without any warnings of the health risks to smokers.
Officers also found hundreds of oral tobacco products, including 277 ‘Kuber’ and 76 ‘Mirage’ tobacco pouches which are illegal in the UK.
Businesses that sell tobacco products have a responsibility to warn potential consumes of the health warnings, as required by law. The reality is that everyone knows the danger of smoking, but the law requires vendors to always re-iterate these dangers on all tobacco packages. Gone are the days when tobacco companies could selfishly adorn tobacco packages with smbols that glorify smoking. Many businesses are only concerned about their bank accounts and hold no value for the health of their customers. Tobacco smuggling from other countries to the UK is also widespread in this country and other European countries. It is an evil that should be fought relentlessly. With this fine, the shop owners will learn a hard lesson. The sad thing is that they are not the first, and will not be the last.