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Ciggie bros win £31k after warehouse raid
TWO brothers have won £31,000 in compensation from Camden Council after Trading Standards officers seized 200,000 cigarette papers from their Kentish Town warehouse.
Arshed and Mashiullah Hafezjee say the goods, with a street value of £300,000, are no longer any use after they were confiscated over a year ago pending a Trading Standards prosecution.
The brothers were cleared last week at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court of breaching the Trade Description Act by selling cigarettes bearing labels claiming they were made “predominantly” of tobacco.
Magistrates also cleared the men of failing to comply with the Manufacture Sale of Tobacco Act (1992) by selling products that did not carry sufficient health warning labels or details of ingredients.
The cigarettes, which come in a variety of flavours including Mango, Sour Apple, Wild Honey and Grapelicious and are imported from the Dominican Republic, the USA and Mexico, are used as cigarette and cigar papers.
They are made of a mixture of ingredients, which can include tobacco, and retail at £1.50 each.
Officers, alerted to the possible contraventions by a neighbouring council, visited the premises in March last year and took samples of each flavour from the brothers’ business Select London – a warehouse in a former underground car park in Weedington Road.
Prosecuting, Charlene Sumnall said the samples were tested and lab results showed they could contain up to five per cent tobacco. This would require the Hafezjees to register they were selling tobacco products with the Department of Health and send a list of ingredients, which they did not do.
To comply with government regulations, clearer labelling with “Smoking Kills” on the packaging would also be required.
Officers returned to the warehouse in May where they banned the sale of the products, returning in July to confiscate them.
But magistrates threw out the case after Karen Taylor, acting for the Hafezjees told the court the council had failed to prove any of their claims.
Neither brother took to the stand during the all-day trial, preferring to rely on Ms Taylor’s request to dismiss all charges outright.
Ms Taylor said the council had based their case on lab test certificates taken from sample products seized on the first visit in March.
But all charges related to the date the products were banned from being sold – when no samples were tested.
Urging the court to dismiss the case, Ms Taylor said the council could not prove to the court that the samples had the same ingredients or packaging as the confiscated products.
Magistrates agreed with Ms Taylor, and dropped all charges.
Ms Taylor asked for £30,000 compensation and £12,500 in court costs.
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We were disappointed at the result as we considered that there was a real concern in the interests of public health.”
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