Croydon Council’s trading standards team has successfully prosecuted two shop owners for selling illegal vapes in the borough.
In the separate cases, the offences both involved selling vapes without the legal health warning, selling vapes that were made outside of the UK that did not have a UK contact address on them, and selling vapes that exceeded 2ml of nicotine liquid.
Mobile and Vape on Brigstock Road in Thornton Heath was raided in April last year following a tip-off and after a test purchase where an illegal vape was sold.
Mr Azmi, the owner of Mobile and Vape, was ordered to pay a fine of £600, victim surcharge of £240 and £500 towards the Council’s costs after 597 vapes were seized.
Phone and Vape Gallery on London Road in Norbury had a routine inspection in July last year where 859 illegal vapes were seized.
Mr Singh, the director of Phone and Vape Gallery, was ordered to pay a fine of £450, victim surcharge of £180 and £500 toward the Council’s costs. He apologised for the offences and was confident his products on sale were now compliant.
The judge gave credit to both men for their guilty pleas.
“Yet another successful prosecution by our award-winning trading standards team.
“We have zero tolerance for these crimes and the team’s routine visits and intelligence-led raids are protecting residents from the potential harm these products can cause.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
If you have information about the sale of illegal tobacco or vape products in Croydon, please visit the Council website.
