Jeweller ordered to pay £1,900 for unhallmarked goods seized
A Birmingham jeweller, who pleaded guilty to 12 offences under Hallmarking Act 1973, Trade Marks Act 1994 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, was ordered to pay £1,900 at Birmingham Magistrates Court today (19 March 2015).
Khwaja Waqar Ahmed - who owned Kashmir Jewellery House, on Coventry Road, Small Heath – was fined £75 for each offence and ordered to pay £1,000 towards court costs. Mr Ahmed no longer owns this business.
Birmingham City Council brought a case against Mr Ahmed, 36, after Birmingham Trading Standards officers, seized 24 unhallmarked items during a visit on 4 February 2014 as part of a city-wide exercise to ensure compliance within the jewellery retail business.
Of the 24 items, 12 were sent to Birmingham Assay Office for inspection and report. They found that none of the 12 items were hallmarked and one of these did not contain the right amount of gold to be described as 22 carat gold.
There were 10 offences of offering to supply unhallmarked jewellery (namely bracelets, earrings and rings) which were orally described as ’22 carat gold’, one of providing false information about the composition of a bracelet, and one of possessing a ring for the purpose of supply which bore a registered trademark, without the consent of the trade mark proprietor.
Cllr Barbara Dring, Chair of Birmingham City Council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “People should be able to have confidence when they are buying valuable goods, like gold jewellery, that they are of the quality they purport to be.
“One of the rings seized by our officers also broke regulations on the use of Trade Marks, which consumers may not be aware of – but this is why it’s important for Trading Standards to take action and bring cases like this to the public’s attention.
“Global brands that have been built up over decades of hard work do not deserve to be damaged as a result of their logos being used on inferior or unlicensed products.”
ENDS
Media contact: Emma Brady, Press and PR Officer, on 0121 303 6969 or email [email protected]
