IMPRISONMENT FOR COUNTERFEITER A joint operation between West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service and West Yorkshire Police in which in excess of 600 counterfeit Playstation games were seized in a raid on the Chip Station, Florence Street, Harehills, Leeds has resulted in the owner of the business receiving a custodial sentence of 16 weeks imprisonment. Leeds Stipendiary Magistrates sentenced Raymond Mitchell of Gipton to a total of 36 weeks imprisonment for the above raid, and a second similar raid some six months later. Other offences were also taken into consideration. Mr Mitchell was trading in counterfeit Playstation compact discs and those seized from him had a street value in excess of £20,000. The court ordered that they be forfeited and destroyed. Mr Martin Wood, Chief Trading Standards Officer of West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service said, "The result of this case demonstrates how seriously the courts treat these issues. It also sends out a clear message to those dealing in counterfeit goods that dealing in these illegal products may result in a prison sentence". Councillor Graham Clarke said, "The common misconception is that counterfeiting is a victimless crime. This is not true. The victims of such sales are the companies whose goods are illegally copied and all those in the distribution chain which leads to inevitable job losses. The customer also gets a shoddy and unacceptable product".
For further information contact:- Paul Smith Tel 0113 289 8219 Graham Hebblethwaite, Divisional Manager/General Media Contact Tel. 0113 289 |
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