A shopkeeper who sold a hoard of illegal lighters, condoms and DVDs has been fined more than £2,000.
Mahalingam Santheepan, who owns Malar Supermarket, in Wembley High Road, pleaded guilty to seven offences under the trademarks and video recordings act, after selling the goods to undercover officers from Brent and Harrow Trading Standards.
He was first visited by officials in October 2007 and was warned about selling illegal goods.
This was followed up by another visit a month later but the businessman was still displaying the fake items.
Officers seized 14 counterfeit Clipper Lighters, 133 packets of counterfeit Durex condoms and a collection of unclassified Tamil DVDs.
Despite numerous requests, Mr Santheepan ignored requests by Trading Standards Officers to be interviewed about the offences and legal proceedings were instituted at Brent Magistrates' Court.
At court, Santheepan represented himself and stated that he had removed the DVDs from display following advice given by Trading Standards. However, he claimed that a member of his staff had put them back on sale while he was away from the business premises.
He was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,005 to the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow Trading Standards Service.
Bill Bilon, the director of Brent & Harrow Trading Standards said: "During the past few months, trading standards officers have been working closely with businesses in order to advise them about the sale of counterfeit goods, as the market place has been flooded with illegal goods. Counterfeit goods such as lighters and condoms are not produced to the same safety standards as the genuine ones and may have serious safety implications.
"I urge both the public and local businesses to be extra vigilant, as this investigation shows that counterfeiting is no longer limited to designer goods, but is more widespread and includes everyday household goods that no one would suspect of being fake."
Any consumer or business should contact Trading Standards on 020 8937 5555 for more information or visit the website: www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/brent&harrow .
