Plumstead Shopkeeper Has Been Fined £1900 For Selling Illicit Tobacco

* Cllr David Gardner

by Benson Agoha | Woolwich

A Plumstead shopkeeper has been fined a total of £1900 after pleading guilty at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on the 22 February to selling illicit tobacco and bottles of spirits subject to duty evasion.

Mr Sher Thapa told the court that he had bought the products from a man in a white van but admitted that he ought to have made more stringent checks before stocking the goods in his ‘All Save’ store at 19 Lakedale Road, Plumstead.

The court ordered forfeiture of the goods seized. Mr. Sher Thapa’s personal licence was suspended for a period of 12 weeks, meaning he is not permitted to sell any form of alcohol during that time.

The premises had come to the attention of Trading Standards on numerous occasions in the last 18 months for stocking bottles of spirits subject to duty evasion, stocking packets of chewing tobacco in contravention of the Regulation 14 of the Tobacco Products (Manufacture, Presentation & Sale) (Safety) Regulations 2002 and selling counterfeit cigarettes.

* Illicit Tobbaco

A multi-agency visit to the premises was conducted on 6 July 2015 led by Trading Standards Officers and officers from HMRC as well as a detection dog with his handler. Tobacco was found inside a black leather handbag hidden in a shopping trolley and on a fridge next to the main counter. Tests later confirmed that several packets of cigarettes failed the self-extinguishing test and a sample of the Marlborough Red cigarettes was confirmed as counterfeit.

Councillor David Gardner, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Public Health said: "Cheap and illegal tobacco is a dangerous draw to both young and old smokers. There is a clear link between the availability of cheap, illegal tobacco and high smoking rates. We are working very hard to ensure that such products are removed from sale and that the shopkeepers are firmly reprimanded."

Cllr Jackie Smith, Cabinet Member for Community, Safety & Environment also stated: “All forms of tobacco pose a health risk but illegal tobacco which fails the self-extinguishing test can also be a serious fire risk. Those retailers stocking such products are endangering residents and we will continue our efforts to clamp down on such sales."

The investigation into the illegal practices at All Save were part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich's on-going campaign against illicit tobacco sales. Since 2013, the Royal Borough has been working with five other south-east London boroughs to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco, after a survey of 1,700 smokers found that an estimated 114 million illegal cigarettes, with a street value of more than £22million, were sold annually in the region.

Anyone who suspects the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol can call the council’s trading standards team on 020 8921 8223 or tradingstandards@royalgreenwich.gov.uk, or report it on the Keep It Out website at www.keep-it-out.co.uk.