Shopkeeper's Christmas plans nearly go up in smoke

COUNTERFEIT cigarettes . . . at the Polish shop on Yorkshire Street

A CROWN Court judge showed festive mercy by delaying the start of a man's sentence until new year so he could spend Christmas with his wife in Turkey.

Hazar Mohammed Pani had been given a suspended prison term and made subject to a strict nightly curfew for three months after pleading guilty to 11 offences under the Trademarks Act.

Pani, who had a Polish shop business in Oldham town centre that was repeatedly found to be selling counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco, should have started the curfew immediately.

Rejected

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard however that 26-year old Iranian-born Pani had wed 18 months ago and only seen his new wife twice because of political difficulties.

She had tried to join him in the UK, but her application had been rejected.

A family member had arranged for the pair to spend valuable time together at Christmas in Turkey, but that would have been impossible without the leniency of the court.

Judge Mark Savill told him: "Let me make it clear that the court is not interested in people's holiday arrangements.

"You need to be punished, and the general public will expect you to be punished.

"Your domestic situation is complex however, and these are exceptional circumstances.

"I am just about persuaded on compassionate grounds, to allow your curfew to start in January."

Leila Ghahhary, prosecuting, had told the court that Pani, of Borrowdale Drive, Rochdale, had taken on the Polski Polish shop business on Oldham's Yorkshire Street which was visited by trading standards officers because of concerns about cigarettes and tobacco being sold there.

In total, five visits were made over a period of four months, and each time counterfeit goods were on sale and found hidden about the premises, including being stashed behind a door frame, and under steps.

The first visit was made on November 3, 2014, but despite a warning, counterfeit goods were still being sold at the business when a second visit was made just two days later.

In February, 2015, trading standards officers carried out a test purchase at the shop, and yet more counterfeit tobacco was found when sniffer dogs were brought in.

The shop was closed down and locked, but later the same day when officers returned, it was open again, with counterfeit tobacco on sale.

The court was told that different men were found at the shop whenever visits were made, but Pani was found to have taken on the business.

When interviewed by police, he said he had paid a friend £45 a day to run the shop for him, and claimed he had known absolutely nothing about the counterfeit tobacco.

Ms Ghahhary told the court: "It is plain that he exercised no diligence over the buying of stock.

"He simply sat back and took the profits."

Involved

She said it was estimated that he had made around £7,000 in profits, while losses to Trademark holders was in the region of £17,000.

Pani pleaded guilty to the Trademark offences on the day he was due to stand trial in September.

He was given a 10-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, and made subject to a three-month nightly curfew between 8pm and 9am from January 4.

The judge told him: "Had I thought for a minute that you had been directly involved in the sale of counterfeit goods, you would have gone straight into custody."