Fake goods costs woman £115,000 and suspended prison sentence Cornwall Trading Standards officers successfully convicted a local woman who had been caught producing and selling fake car accessories in November. Jackie Beasley, of St Eval, produced and sold car seat covers that bore the brand names and logos of a variety of motor manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Mini, Land Rover, Renault, Peugeot, BMW, Renault and MG. The covers were sold online at £15, much lower than the price of genuine products. Beasley had no authorisation from these companies to use their logos. In July 2014, after a complaint by a business that sold genuine car seat covers, trading standards officers raided Beasley’s property and seized more than 1,200 seat covers bearing unauthorised trademarks. Twelve charges were brought against Beasley, who traded as Tuff Covers. Eleven specimen charges were brought under the Trade Marks Act 1994, with a 12th charge relating to running a fraudulent business, contrary to the Fraud Act 2006. At Truro Crown Court in November she pleaded guilty to all charges. In passing sentence, Judge Harvey Clark QC said that he was sceptical of the defence’s submission that Beasley had been naïve in her actions. He did, however, take into account her cooperation, previous good character and the fact that she would probably have to sell her house to pay for the Proceeds of Crime Act Order. He also acknowledged the ‘time-consuming and difficult’ nature of these investigations and praised the work of the TSOs, who revealed the scale of the offending. He sentenced Beasley to six months’ imprisonment for the Trade Marks Act offences, with a further eight months for the Fraud Act offence, to run concurrently. The sentence was suspended for two years. She was ordered to pay more than £9,000 in costs and a confiscation order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act for just over £105,000. Equipment at biggest risk of failure revealed Medical equipment has been found to pose the highest potential for failure, according to the latest annual weights and measures report for 2014-15. The National Measurement and Regulation Office’s report puts medical weighing equipment in top spot, followed by: weighbridges and scales equal to, or greater than, five tonnes; non-automatic weighing instruments greater than 30kg and less than five tonnes; and liquid-fuel tanker meter measuring systems. This list remains largely unchanged from the same period last year, with the addition of medical weighing equipment in 2014-15. For the first time, the report also reveals that trading standards interventions directly saved businesses £1,181,000. Trading standards services also helped 3,087 organisations comply with weights and measures law. The proportion of non-compliant firms was 23 per cent. Weights and measures is just one small area for which trading standards is responsible. Services also enforce underage sales legislation, food, and product safety laws and animal health, as well as prosecuting rogue traders and scam artists. Award for No Cold Calling Zone coordinator Jenny Woodall was presented with the People’s Award by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner in October, for her hard work and dedication to the No Cold Calling Zone in Valley, Anglesey. Woodall was nominated by trading standards officers in recognition of the effort she puts in, keeping an eye on more than 600 properties as Neighbourhood Watch coordinator, and making sure that all cold callers are reported. Because of this work, the residents report that they feel safer in their homes, more confident in saying no to unwanted callers, and are much more likely to report a stranger knocking on their door. Woodall was awarded a trophy and a medal at a ceremony hosted by Winston Roddick, the Police and Crime Commissioner. Successful in the Young Person of the Year category was Moelfre Youth Club, which – among other projects – put on a drama showing residents how to deal with unwanted callers at the launch of the Moelfre No Cold Calling Zone. North Wales councils working together to support local markets In the first joint initiative of its kind in the UK, six neighbouring local authorities across North Wales have joined forces to keep the region’s markets fake-free. The Real Deal charter was simultaneously launched at 16 markets in November, to enable its procedures and advice for traders to be in place in the run-up to the busy Christmas shopping season. The project was coordinated by trading standards officers from the six North Wales authorities. Kevin Jones, chairman of the North Wales Heads of Trading Standards Group, said: ‘Like all markets across the UK, those in North Wales can be susceptible, at any time, to infiltration by sellers of counterfeit goods and other illicit products. This is particularly the case in the pre-Christmas shopping period, when shoppers are searching for bargains and can be duped into buying fake goods from unscrupulous sellers. ‘The Real Deal charter sets out clear, practical procedures for market operators to help them to stay fake-free.’ Patricia Lennon, campaign director of the Real Deal, said: ‘This partnership approach by the six local authorities in North Wales is a real show of force against the criminals who are behind the trade in fake goods. ‘By introducing the Real Deal Charter and displaying the logo, markets and trading standards services across North Wales are sending a strong “keep out” message to the counterfeiting conmen who do not care about ripping off consumers, selling unsafe products or damaging local businesses.’ Read information on the Real Deal Charter and a list of all markets that have signed up to its fake-free ethos.