Wigan borough shopkeeper fined for selling tobacco in illegal and phoney packaging

Diyar Mohammedi, 30, of Shop and Go on Railway Road in Leigh appeared before justices to plead guilty to a series of charges relating to the sale of all kinds of different famous tobacco brands, including Lambert and Butler, Amber Leaf, Sovereign, Dunhill and Marlboro, whose packaging did not include the required trademarks and health warnings.

The hearing was told that the goods were seized by trading standards officers during a visit to the business - whose official name is Leigh Road Off-Licence Ltd - on February 9 last year.

Both Mohammedi and Shop and Go were prosecuted under the 1994 Trade Marks Act and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations of 2016 and the bench took their guilty pleas into consideration when handing down sentence.

Fines, costs and a victim services surcharge mean that £2,540 must be paid.