Highlights
- Over 1,000 illegal vapes and banned snus found at Uni Food & Wine.
- Owner Avtar Lulpurwal pleaded guilty to multiple offences.
- Sentencing set for 15 November; £19.5k proceeds of crime sought.
The owner of an Oxford off-licence, who was stripped of its premises licence earlier this year, has once again been charged with offences involving illegal strong tobacco snus.
Avtar Singh Lulpurwal, 45, who runs Uni Food & Wine in Park End Street, saw his business investigated by Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team last November, after they received a report that the shop had been selling tobacco snus from Sweden.
The court heard that on November 18 last year, trading standards officers seized 81 illegal vapes, some claiming to contain up to 15,000 puffs, and found tobacco products on open display.
The statutory warning notice stating, "It is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18", was also not displayed.
Revisiting the premises on 17 December, officers discovered a unit pack of Siberia Extremely Strong tobacco snus, labelled in Swedish, on open display. Tobacco snus has been illegal to sell in the UK since 1992.
Tobacco products were also again on open display and the statutory warning notice was still not displayed.
Lulpurwal, of Oxford Road, Kidlington, pleaded guilty to all charges. He had previously pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court on 17 June after over 1,000 illegal vapes had been seized in total from two of his shops, including Uni Food & Wine.
The council is also seeking to recover around £19,500 in proceeds of crime. Lulpurwal will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on 15 November 2025.
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety said, “Thank you to all involved for all of their work and dedication in bringing this case to court. We will always pursue reoffenders, and it is disappointing that that yet again trading standards has been forced to resort to court action to protect the public.”
Jody Kerman, Oxfordshire County Council's Head of Prevention, Protection and Trading Standards said, "It's disappointing when a retailer does not learn from its mistakes.
"Our role is to educate and assist where we can but we don't shy away from taking enforcement action when it's necessary to protect the public and honest businesses alike."