Enforcement action stops sale of over £50k of unsafe electrical goods

Havering Council’s trading standards team helped to stop unsafe electrical goods being sold to the public in an investigation which saw a company director prosecuted.

Earlier this month, Rizwan Nasir (52), of Havering, was given a three-month prison sentence for offences of failing to comply with the requirements of safety regulations at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The sentence was suspended for 18 months.

The judge also issued a forfeiture order against Buyersbargin LTD, an online business which sold electrical chargers, adaptors, plugs, cables and earphones, of which Mr Nasir was a company director from 2015.

The company was also found guilty of six offences of failing to comply with the requirements of safety regulations, plus three counts of unauthorised use of a trademark.

A large quantity of the items, which had a retail value of £54,000, were falsely branded as goods made by names such as Apple, Samsung, Beats and Sennheiser and were found to be counterfeit or contravening UK safety regulations.

Havering’s trading standards team, working in partnership with National Trading Standards officers and the Metropolitan Police, issued warrants in March 2018 before a large number of goods were seized from a storage address in Romford.

Samples were taken from the items and checked for authenticity and safety.

It was found that 23 items labelled as from Apple and Beat and 17 goods branded with the Sennheiser name, were counterfeit.

There were a further 16 electrical goods that failed safety tests and would have been a risk to the public.

Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:

“This is a great result for our trading standards team whose priority is to keep residents and visitors to Havering safe.

“The goods found in this case posed a potential safety risk but our action meant that they never reached the shelves to cause danger.

“It was also a good example of partnership working with our National Trading Standards colleagues and the police.”

Trish Burls, Chair of the National Trading Standards Tri Regional Investigation Team, said:

“This investigation highlights the value and success of partnership working between a local authority and our national and regional trading standards teams.

“Our teams were able to provide considerable and valuable investigational and evidence support to Havering’s trading standards officers, helping to pull together the various strands of this complex investigation.

“This allowed the full facts of the offences to be presented and considered in court, sending a clear message that fraudulent activities will not be tolerated.”