Illegal Tobacco: Northampton

Store owner fined after illicit tobacco find

Many of the cigarettes falsely carried the names and logos of well-known brands, while hundreds of others carried no English-language health warnings.

A Northampton store owner has been fined more than £6,000 after hundreds of packets of illicit cigarettes were found at his store.

Officers from Northamptonshire County Council’s Trading Standards team and HM Revenue and Customs seized the cigarettes and a number of tobacco pouches after finding them in an electronic hide during a visit to Xoshawi Kalend’s UK Monopol store in St Leonard’s Road, Far Cotton.

Many of the items falsely carried the names and logos of well-known brands, while hundreds of others carried no English-language health warnings, as is required by law. In addition, a number of the cigarettes were not made with firesafe paper, meaning they would be more likely to cause fires if left unattended.

Kalend pleaded guilty to five offences at Northampton Magistrates’ Court. The charges included: possessing with intent to sell 86 packets of cigarettes carrying false branding; possessing 239 packets and four tobacco pouches that were not labelled with the proper warnings; and failing to act with due care to ensure that 36 packets of cigarettes complied with safety requirements.

Magistrates fined Kalend £6,388, including a contribution to prosecution costs, and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £189.

Kalend had pleaded guilty to five similar charges in July 2019 and received a financial penalty of £3,000 including a contribution to prosecution costs.

Councillor David Smith, WNC’s Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement and regulatory services, said: “The Trading Standards team at West Northamptonshire Council take a very tough stance on the issue, and I hope this prosecution sends a strong message that if shopkeepers deal in illegal tobacco, they should expect to face legal action.”