Businessman sold fake football club phone covers at Merry Hill kiosk

Baldev Degun did not show 'honest business practice' when he offered the items for sale at his Planet Mobile stall at the shopping centre.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the covers had been purchased from a cold-caller who had visited the kiosk known only as 'Adam'. The court was told Degun had made no inquiries about the supply company and 'was not concerned' there was no phone number or web address for the supplier on documentation. The covers had the logos of football clubs including Wolves, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United on them.

Others were decorated with the trademarks of designer labels Gucci and Louis Vuitton alongside Hugo Boss, Hello Kitty and even DC Comics' Superman logo.

Degun, of Salisbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to one count of offering for sale a mobile phone cover bearing the trademark of West Bromwich Albion.

The 47-year-old also admitted a further 16 counts of possession, in the course of his business and for the purposes of sale, mobile phone covers bearing the trademarks of football clubs and designer labels.

The court was told an operative from Back Four Limited, a brand protection consultancy which manages the FA premier league's anti-counterfeiting programme, had visited the stall on January 28 2012. Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting on behalf of Dudley Council trading standards, said: "A test purchase was made of a West Bromwich Albion mobile phone cover.

"This relates to the first count. The cover was found to be counterfeit.

"Following this enforcement officers employed by Dudley Trading Standards attended the kiosk to carry out an inspection.

"They were able to see the phone covers on display."

Mr Jackson said according to documentation 1,355 covers had been purchased. Around 252 of these had already been sold but the remainder had been seized by trading standards.

He told the court the name of the supplier on the invoices had been Mobile Phone Express.

"However it was later found while a company of that name had existed it had not been trading for nine months and had no dealings with the defendant," he said.

"It seems someone was using their headed documentation."

Mr Jackson said Degun had 'taken responsibility' for his firm's decision to sell them.

Degun was ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and to pay the prosecution costs of £4,506.

A confiscation order was also made for £10,162 - the amount Degun would have benefited if he had sold all of the fake goods.

The covers will also be destroyed.

Miss Kristin Montgomery, defending, said at the time her client had 'not been best placed' to manage a business.

"At the time he was suffering from anxiety and depression albeit he had refused medication.

"What happened here was an isolated matter."

She said Degun had since reviewed his business practices to ensure it did not happen again.

Miss Montgomery said the financial penalty would affect her client's plans for the future - including his forthcoming wedding.

Judge Peter Barrie said: "This was not honest business practice."

Dudley Council's director of urban environment John Millar said: "We work very hard to protect the public and legitimate traders from the impact of the sale of fake goods, through our trading standards team.

"We make every effort to prosecute offenders through the court. We're pleased with the result of the latest case and hope this sends out a clear message to anyone considering selling counterfeit goods."