TWO business owners have been prosecuted for selling potentially harmful products and putting people’s safety at risk.
Arman Imami, the owner of Delicii Mini Market, on Sheffield Road and Khalid Dyarie Mohamadi, the former owner of JD Mini Market, on Barnsley Road in Goldthorpe, both pleaded guilty to separate offences during last week’s hearings at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court.
Mohamadi was ordered to pay £3,029.79 in fines and costs after his business was found to be selling illegal tobacco products and vapes before it closed last August.
This was the result of a closure order the council successfully secured last August to stop further illicit activity taking place.
During a joint visit by Trading Standards officers and South Yorkshire Police last March, sniffer dogs found a hidden concealment in the store containing 8,140 illegal cigarettes and 150 pouches of hand rolling tobacco that breached regulations.
The teams also found over 500 illegal single-use e-cigarettes available for sale and displayed prominently in the shop, with all items being recovered to keep local people safe.
In a separate case, Imami was ordered to pay £2,368.97 in fines and costs after his business was found to be repeatedly breaching important food labelling legislation.
During a routine visit to Delicii Mini Market in June 2023, Trading Standards officers discovered they were selling food products that didn’t include the name and address of a UK business and didn’t meet legal labelling requirements, such as correct allergen information in English.
These rules are designed to protect people’s health and safety, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about ingredients that could cause them harm.
Correct UK business information also helps to make sure potentially unsafe products are effectively recalled.
Despite repeated improvement notices from the Trading Standards team, follow-up visits found that food products continued to be sold that didn’t meet legal labelling requirements.
Officers also found that the business operated for two years without an up-to-date food business licence, meaning they weren’t legally registered to sell these products.
Together, the two cases saw almost £5,400 in penalties imposed for selling illicit products, breaching important regulations and failing to act on improvement notices.
Both prosecutions also ordered for the disposal of all the seized non-compliant products.
Councillor Wendy Cain, cabinet spokesperson for public health and communities, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe, and this is a responsibility we take very seriously.
“Our teams do great work to keep unsafe food products off our shelves, tackle illegal tobacco in our borough and support businesses to understand their legal responsibilities.
“We’re here to help businesses to comply with the rules and make improvements, but these cases send a clear message that if you don’t follow legislation, we will take action to keep our residents safe.
“I would like to thank both our Trading Standards and legal services teams for everything they do to make sure we’re always putting people’s health and safety first.”
