Thousands of dangerous and unsafe electrical products including children’s tablets and nail UV lamps have been seized after a trading standards investigation in Swansea.
The products were seized from Global Storage Fulfillment - a warehouse on Langdon Road, which was managed by Mr Ning Lui of Sketty Park Drive.
Following a prosecution at Swansea Crown Court on Friday 8 September, Mr Lui has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs after he pleaded guilty to 19 offences under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and the Trade Marks Act.
The case follows a joint investigation by Swansea Council’s Trading Standards, with assistance from National Trading Standards.
Mr Lui was the director of Global Storage Fulfillment and was supplying goods to consumers across the UK from his warehouse.
Trading standards officers became concerned about the safety and quality of goods distributed from the Langdon Road warehouse. Further investigations showed there were no safety procedures in place relating to the products being sold.
Mr Lui claimed he relied on safety certificates for products he distributed to be supplied by the sellers based in China.
Items seized included children’s tablets, nail lamps, cameras, plugs, chargers, extension leads and adaptors - all of which were found to be poorly constructed. Some had also been established as the source of house fires.
Mr Lui was fine £2000 for each of the 19 offences (£38,000) and ordered to pay £66,000 in costs.
Swansea Councillor, Andrea Lewis, said: “When we visited the business premises it became clear that the products being sold were unsafe and not properly regulated.
“The advice our trading standards provided in relation to safety standards was ignored and therefore we were obliged to bring this case forward.
“When businesses ignore important trading regulations linked to electrical goods we are obliged to do everything we can to ensure the safety of the public is protected.
“We know that products similar to those that were being sold from the warehouse have led to serious house fires.
“Hopefully this case will send a very clear message to traders that we will do everything in our power to prevent dangerous goods being sold in Swansea and elsewhere in the UK.
“We are very grateful for the support we received from National Trading Standards in order to bring this case to court.”
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of National Trading Standards, said:
“I am pleased that this conviction has been secured and that Mr Lui’s business has ceased to operate. Many of the products supplied by the business posed a real risk to people’s health, including the sale of products that caused house fires. In supplying these products Mr Lui’s actions were both criminal and reckless.
If people suspect that a product they are using is unsafe or counterfeit then they should report by calling the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.”
Notes to Editors
For more information about this case or for general enquiries about National Trading Standards please call 020 7025 7570 or e-mail nationaltradingstandards@grayling.com.
About National Trading Standards
National Trading Standards delivers national and regional consumer protection enforcement. Its Board is made up of senior and experienced heads of local government trading standards from around England and Wales with an independent Chair. Its purpose is to protect consumers and safeguard legitimate businesses by tackling serious national and regional consumer protection issues and organised criminality and by providing a “safety net” to limit unsafe consumer goods entering the UK and protecting food supplies by ensuring the animal feed chain is safe.