A business and its director have been fined thousands of pounds for the illegal sale of cigarettes at a convenience store in Wembley .
Harpreet Singh and his company, A Plus Superstore Ltd, in Harrow Road, were found guilty of possessing and selling cigarettes and other tobacco products without displaying the correct health warnings.
Trading Standards had warned 46-year-old Mr Singh of Browning Way, Hounslow , about selling illegal tobacco products in his store following several compliance visits by officers, the court heard.
Mr Singh pleaded guilty to 10 charges - five on behalf of the company - and was ordered to pay £3,904 in fines and costs at Willesden Magistrates' Court on January 23.
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He and his company were each fined £300 per offence (total £3,000), a £30 victim surcharge each (total £60) and ordered to pay costs of £844.
On July 4 2017, officers seized a number of tobacco products that did not have the required health warnings on and multiple cigarette packets that were not in the correct standardised packets.
Brent councillor Tom Miller, cabinet member responsible for Trading Standards, praised the successful prosecution.
"This is another great result thanks to our Trading Standards team, who have seized over 24,000 illegal cigarettes in the last 12 months," said Cllr Miller.
"Businesses that sell tobacco products should be more than aware of the legal requirements that have now been in place for some time and should take responsibility to ensure that each item carries the correct health warnings, as required by law, and are displayed in the proper way.
"We want good, honest traders here in Brent and will work with retailers to help them comply but will crack down hard on businesses that ignore our advice and flout the law, as we continue to work towards a safer and healthier borough."
All offences concerned failure to comply with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations Act 2016 and Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.
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