Derby businessman fined £25,000 for selling unsafe toys
A Derbyshire businessman has been fined over £25,000 after he was found guilty of selling unsafe toys and electrical items as well as toys which were not believed to be genuine products.
Bahar Khan Shalmani and Poundvalley (of which Shalmani is the sole director) were investigated after Derby City Council Trading Standards team received a complaint from a consumer in December 2015 which said a shop at the top of Normanton Road at the Southgate Retail Park appeared to be selling toys which were believed not to be genuine.
A visit was made to the store Discount Outlet on the 24 December 2015 and a test purchase made of what was described as a Disney Frozen Doll.
Then on 11 January 2016 the Fire Service attended an incident at a house in Derby as a result of using an extension lead for the first time which started to smoke. The extension lead had been purchased from Discount Outlet and did not conform to the British standard.
On a further visit to Discount Outlet on 19 January 2016 no extension leads were found on sale but a number of test purchases were made of a child’s cycle helmet and a SWAT force shooting game.
Test Reports showed that the SWAT force game did not comply with the British Standard, along with a child’s cycle helmet which had insufficient shock absorbing capacity and retention system. The test on the extension lead showed it had overheated due to a screw connection which was not permitted by the British Standard.
A further 600 items (mainly toys) were seized by Derbyshire Trading Standards from Poundvalley in Long Eaton as part of the investigation.
At the sentencing hearing at Derby Magistrates’ Court Mr Bahar Khan Shalmani and Poundvalley Limited (of which he is the sole director) were sentenced as follows:
For the offences under:
- The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 (I offence – extension Lead);
- The Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011(1 offence – SWAT Force shooting game);
- The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 (1 offence – child’s cycle helmet)
Mr Shalmani was given a community order to run for 12 months with an unpaid work requirement of 100 hours
The court also made an order for forfeiture and destruction in respect of the items seized by Trading Standards Officers.
Councillor Asaf Afzal, cabinet member for nighbourhoods and public protection, said: “It is important that we continue to take action against businesses which fail to comply with trading standards legislation. We will not tolerate illegal and potentially dangerous items being sold in Derby.”
