West Sussex County Council Trading Standards has successfully prosecuted the director of Krakow Market store in Crane Street, Chichester, for a number of food and tobacco related offences.
The case involves multiple breaches of consumer protection laws, including food safety standards, improper packaging of tobacco products, unauthorised use of trademarks and the sale of illicit tobacco and vape products.
Mr Hoshmand Mahmood, director of Krakow Market Ltd, appeared at Worthing Magistrates Court on Wednesday 21 May and was found guilty of all charges.
Trading Standards officers conducted inspections between March 2024 and May 2024 and found that a significant proportion of food items on sale lacked mandatory English labelling. Despite being given clear advice and a 28-day deadline to rectify the issue, the business failed to comply. An Improvement Notice was issued under the Food Safety Act 1990, but a follow-up inspection revealed continued non-compliance with officers also discovering food items on display that were well past their use-by dates.
The team also uncovered repeated breaches of tobacco and vaping regulations. Despite a prior warning issued in November 2023, inspections in March 2024, April 2024 and July 2024 revealed the ongoing sale of non-standard packaged and counterfeit tobacco products, including cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco.
The tobacco was found to be non-duty paid and the court heard that Mr Mahmood had evaded excise duty on all the detected tobacco products of £1,095.74.
Illicit vaping products which exceeded legal puff limits were also found. The business failed to display the mandatory tobacco sales poster, maintain training records, or implement age verification policies such as Challenge 25. Staff on duty had not received appropriate training and seemed unaware of legal requirements.
The offences were prosecuted under the Food Safety & Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, the Food Safety Act 1990, the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015, the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
Mr Mahmood indicated to the court that it was his error and he accepted he was not acting responsibly as a director and ‘just let his manager get on with it’. He was ordered to pay a total of £2,043, which includes a deprivation order for all tobacco and vape products seized and victim surcharge. He was also given a community order with 190 hours of unpaid work to be completed in 12 months.
Cllr Duncan Crow, Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, said: “Our consumer protection regulations are in place to ensure public safety. Despite receiving several warnings, this business continued to put the public at serious risk. We will not tolerate such dangerous behaviour and will make sure that those responsible are held fully accountable.”
If you would like to report an issue, please visit: Report an incident or issue to Trading Standards – West Sussex County Council.
