The owner of a shop which sold a disposable vape to an under-18-year-old has been ordered to pay £2,326 following a prosecution by Heart of the South West Trading Standards.
At Taunton Magistrates’ Court on 8 October Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Malapati (38), sole director of Reddysgroup Ltd which owns and operates Reddy’s News in Taunton, pleaded guilty to an offence under the The Children and Families Act 2014, under which it is illegal to sell electronic cigarettes to people under the age of 18.
The shop had been the subject of a test-purchasing operation following complaints from local residents. The sale of a vape to a young volunteer was witnessed by two Trading Standards Officers, with the employee failing to ask for identification or proof of age, or to ask the volunteer how old they were.
After the sale took place, the seller denied he was employed by the shop and said he was ‘helping out’ Malapati.
When asked what systems were in place to prevent underage sales, the seller did not seem to know about any such measures but said that he had been told not to sell to children.
Malapati acknowledged that he had not responded to several requests for information from Trading Standards during the investigation, but in mitigation said this was because of health and family issues. He said that he had not been on the premises at the time the sale was made, and that he had subsequently sacked the employee who had sold the vape. He added that he has now provided training to staff and put in place a No ID, No Sale policy.
Malapati was fined £883 (reduced from £1,250 for an early guilty plea), plus a £333 surcharge. He was also ordered to pay full costs of £1,160.
The prosecution is the third of its kind brought by Heart of the South West Trading Standards service in as many months, following the sentencing of a business owner from Bridgwater in August and another from Paignton in September.
Alex Fry, operations manager for Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service, said: “The bright colours and sweet flavours of vapes are attracting young people and so it is essential that store owners ensure that they do not sell these products to children and that systems are in place to prevent that from happening.
“In this case there were no procedures in place and the employer had not trained the employee, and that led to the prosecution.
“We will continue to respond to community concerns in this area, prioritising the health and wellbeing of residents and our young people.
“Where premises fail test purchase operations, we will take a good look at the measures which were in place before deciding what action to take. In this case the employee was given ample opportunity to ask for ID and he did not.
“Retailers must understand that selling age-restricted products to a minor is an offence and by doing so they are gambling with their livelihoods.”
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