A Stockport shopkeeper has been slapped with a fine of almost £8,000 for selling a vape to a child. Mr Shah, of Birch Hall Lane, Manchester, sold an e-cigarette to a 14-year-old Trading Standards volunteer at Pound Hut in Hazel Grove earlier this year.
The 54 year-old, of Amafhha Traders Ltd, was fined £2,200 by Stockport Magistrates on November 1 after failing to ask the child for age identification.
Mr Shah was fined a further £3,500 for supplying an e-cigarette without packaging or an information leaflet during the transaction, as set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
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The shopkeeper had previously pleaded guilty to all the offences on behalf of himself and his company, at Tameside Magistrates Court. The £5,700 fines were reduced to £3,800 to credit the early guilty pleas, however, he was still ordered to pay £1,520 victim surcharge and £2,394.08 in prosecution costs.
A Stockport Council spokesperson said: “This is an excellent result for Stockport and really demonstrates just how seriously the courts are taking the illegal sale of vapes. Unregulated vapes and illegal sales can be dangerous and harmful.
“Our Trading Standards team will continue to robustly enforce the law to keep people safe especially our children and youngsters and bring those to justice who commit crime in our neighbourhoods.”
Recent research commissioned by Trading Standards North West has shown that the percentage of children smoking tobacco cigarettes in Stockport has halved since 2017.
However, during the same time period vaping amongst young people has more than tripled. In the research, 70 percent of teenagers that claim to vape said they have used disposable (single use) vapes. Over a third said they vaped because they like the flavours, it’s cheaper than smoking, and they are easier to obtain than tobacco cigarettes.
The government has recently launched a consultation on how to protect children while encouraging adult smokers to use vapes to quit.
The consultation is asking people for their views on whether disposable vapes – which are known to be the first choice among children – should be banned or restricted and whether more needs to be done on pricing.
Other proposals include restricting the flavours and descriptions of vapes so they are no longer targeted at children, putting vapes out of the sight of children and regulating vape packaging and how products are presented.
Other suggestions in the consultation include on-the-spot fines for retailers who sell to underage children and greater measures to tackle online sales.
