Counterfeit goods market trader sentenced

A Rochdale market trader has admitted selling fake sports goods worth around £2500.

23-year old Mohammed Qasim, of Mitchell Street, Rochdale, appeared in court last week and pleaded guilty to six charges relating to the sale of fake items that appeared to be made by brands such as Nike and Timberland.

In November 2007, officers from the Council’s trading standards team visited Qasim, who was trading on Rochdale Outdoor Market, and seized a total of 65 items bearing the registered trade marks of ‘Nike’, ‘Timberland’, ‘Henri Lloyd’, ‘Fred Perry’ and ‘Stone Island’. The officers strongly suspected these items were not genuine due to the poor quality of the garments and errors in their labelling.

Following subsequent consumer complaints, officers returned to Qasim’s stall in July last year and seized a further four items bearing the ‘Henri-Lloyd’ registered trade mark. All of the seized goods were confirmed to be counterfeit items by the relevant trade mark representatives and a conservative estimate put their value at around £2500.

Qasim was sentenced to a 12 month Community Order with a requirement to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and he was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £2583.

Wera Hobhouse, Cabinet member for Planning and Regulation on Rochdale Council said: “Our priority is to protect the interests of the borough’s consumers and businesses and this conviction is an important victory towards doing that. Counterfeiting activity will not be tolerated and offenders will face the consequences of their actions in court.”