A 62-year-old Penpedairheol man has been banned from leaving his house between 7pm and 7am after he admitted a string of charges of selling fake goods.
Market trader Victor Purnell, of Bryn Siriol, admitted 14 charges relating to the sale of counterfeit goods, including tobacco, fabric conditioner and perfumes.
Known locally as Mario, Purnell was investigated by Trading Standards after they received a tip-off he was selling fake goods.
An officer bought perfume described as ‘Jean Paul Gaultier’, but was in fact a ‘look-alike’ product that did not have the correct safety labels. Purnell also sold the officer some cheap hand rolling tobacco, which also turned out to be counterfeit.
Following this, Purnell’s home was searched where six-hundred counterfeit cigarettes and almost 4kg of counterfeit hand rolling tobacco was found, as well as 300 bottles of perfumes. A number of four and 1.1 litre bottles of fabric conditioner, labelled up as ‘Comfort’ and ‘Lenor’, were also found.
The contents was the same as that found in four 100-litre containers in Purnell’s shed.
Purnell appeared at Newport Magistrates Court on Friday, February 26 and was ordered to pay the council £2,263.05 in costs and a victim surcharge of £60.
He was also handed a six-month curfew, requiring him to stay inside his home from 7pm until 7am.