Trader jailed for counterfeit fags operation at cafe

£4K OF CIGS FOUND AFTER SHOPKEEPER IGNORED ALL WARNINGS

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN [e-mail] @TeessideLive

A SHOPKEEPER has been jailed after continuing to sell counterfeit cigarettes despite being warned to stop.

Police found over £4,000 worth of illegal cigarettes and tobacco during a search of a North Ormesby shop.

Dyary Kadir, 52, and his partner, Emma Wilkinson, 39, had been warned by trading standards after being reported for selling counterfeit cigarettes from their premises at 38 Market Place.

A further £1,376 worth of illegal cigarettes were found stashed in the flat above the shop. Wilkinson’s address, on Berwick Hills in Brambles Farm, was also used to stash £4,368 of cigarettes, which were found by police in January 2023.

The shop was closed down, but Kadir continued to sell the cigarettes from his cafe at 32 Market Place.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Trading Standards received reports about him selling the counterfeit goods after hours and when the cafe was searched in February last year, £1,500 worth of cigarettes were seized.