Northampton shop owner fined for possessing illegal cigarettes, tobacco

The owner of a Northampton shop, where a massive haul of illegal cigarettes were seized, was fined by the court after he pleaded guilty to the offence, stated recent reports.

As per local reports, officers from Northamptonshire County Council’s Trading Standards team and HM Revenue and Customs have confiscated illegal cigarettes, along with a number of tobacco pouches, during a visit to UK Monopol in St Leonard’s Road, Far Cotton, earlier this month.

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, said a spokesperson for West Northamptonshire Council (WNC). It was also discovered that a number of the cigarettes were not made with fire-safe paper, meaning they would be more likely to cause fires if left unattended.

At Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (14), the shop’s owner, Xoshawi Kalend, pleaded guilty to five offences following a prosecution by WNC.

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
• Failing to act with due care to ensure that 36 packets of cigarettes complied with safety requirements

Tina Collett, prevention team leader for the home fire safety team at Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service, said: “Some illegal cigarettes are not self-extinguishable and burn at higher temperatures, making them a much higher fire risk. Tragically, three people have died in Northamptonshire as a result of smoking-related fires over the last four years. If smoking, ensure cigarettes are put right out, never smoke in bed and use a proper ashtray to extinguish a cigarette, never a wastepaper basket.”

Magistrates fined Kalend £6,388, which included 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.