A COUPLE have been fined after they were caught with almost 1,000 counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco.

The illegal tobacco products were found during a search of Geoffrey and Lucy Tait’s home on The Avenue, in Pity Me, Durham.

Durham County Council’s Trading Standards team executed a warrant of entry at the house last October, after receiving information they had allegedly been involved in the sale of tobacco for some time.

Cigarettes and tobacco were found with packaging from a number of brands including JPS, Rothman, and Business Royal cigarettes and Amberleaf, Flandria, and Turner hand rolling tobacco.

In total, 980 cigarettes and 5.75kg of tobacco were seized at the property.

The Northern Echo:

When investigated, it was found that none of the products conformed to the current requirements of standardised packaging and, of the products seized, none had the required combined health warnings except for the Rothman cigarettes.

A sample of the JPS cigarettes and Rothman cigarettes were sent to the trademark holders who confirmed they were all fake.

Mr Tait, 64, and Mrs Tait, 56, were charged with possession of counterfeit cigarette and tobacco products that were in breach of a registered trademark, non-compliant with packaging regulations, and in breach of health warning provisions.

Both pleaded guilty at Peterlee Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 11 and were fined £120, with an additional £200 in costs and a victim surcharge of £32.

Owen Cleugh, public protection manager at Durham County Council, said: “This case illustrates that our Trading Standards team is committed to dealing with illicit tobacco at all levels of the supply chain.

"It should also serve as a warning to anybody else engaged in this type of criminal behaviour that they risk an appearance at court, a fine or imprisonment and a criminal record by doing so.

“Selling illegal tobacco affects communities on many levels.

"Not only does it have a serious impact on health, it brings crime and nuisance to local neighbourhoods, makes it easier for children to get hold of cheap tobacco, and undermines the efforts of the stop smoking services.”

Anyone who believes they may have information on the sale of illicit tobacco can report it anonymously on the hotline 0300-9990000 or online at keep-it-out.co.uk/

Advice about stopping smoking can be found from Stop Smoking County Durham by calling 0800-772 0565 or at durham.gov.uk/stopsmoking