A trader who was caught selling illegal tobacco has been ordered to pay a total of nearly £2,000.
Mumtaz Jilani, trading as Jilani’s Newsagent on Wilmslow Road, was fined £1,000 with £845 costs and a £100 victims surcharge after pleading guilty to selling cigarettes without a health warning label.
Manchester City Council trading standards officers visited the Rusholme store in May and found 1,800 cigarettes, 1.65kg of rolling tobacco and 33 packets of snuff behind the shop’s counter.
As the cigarettes and tobacco was not marked with any health warning, they cannot be legally sold in the UK.
Cllr Bernard Priest, Manchester City Council’s deputy leader, said: “Those involved in dealing in illegal tobacco may be encouraging people, including children to smoke by providing a cheap source.
“Our trading standards team did an excellent job of getting these products off Manchester shop shelves, and these prosecutions serve as a warning that we take this very seriously and will bring those responsible for this trade before the courts.”
Andrea Crossfield, director of Tobacco Free Futures, said “We, along with partners such as HM Revenue and Customs and local authorities including Manchester City Council, have been working successfully to cut the supply of and demand for cheap illegal tobacco”.
“Its low price and easy availability encourages people to keep smoking, and children and young people are often targeted by unscrupulous traders. This enforcement action is therefore welcomed.”