Former Leeds Shopkeeper Guilty of Selling Cigarettes to 13 Year Old

On 29^th February 2024, Mengstaeb Kahsay of Leeds appeared at Kirklees Magistrates Court to answer the charge of selling cigarettes to a 13 year old child. Mr Kahsay, who has since sold his business, traded as Citispace Stores, 45 Byron Street, Leeds, LS2 7QJ, pleaded guilty to committing the offence under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The Magistrates gave credit to Mr Kahsay for his early guilty plea and therefore reduced the fine from £777 to £518. He was also ordered to pay £207 victim surcharge and £500 towards the prosecution costs, totalling £1225. The amount was to be paid in full within the next 28 days.

The case was launched after West Yorkshire Trading Standards received a complaint regarding the premises selling tobacco to children under the age of 18.

In September 2023, a 13 year old volunteer entered the shop, under the supervision of a Trading Standards Officer, and asked to buy a packet of cigarettes. Mr Kahsay sold a packet of Richmond Kingsize cigarettes to the volunteer for £12.39, without asking for identification or challenging his age. It is an offence to sell tobacco to a person under the age of 18. Mr Kahsay was interviewed a later date but responded “no comment” to each of the questions asked.

David Strover, Trading Standards Manager  -  Business Services Team said, “the flagrant sale of cigarettes to children should not be happening within our communities.  We wrote to this business to make them aware of complaints we had received and informed them a test purchase may follow. The health risks associated with tobacco are considerable and shops need to ensure they have systems in place to avoid selling tobacco to minors.  Trading Standards will continue to investigate allegations and make test purchases to reduce the prevalence of this issue.  I would like to thank all the partners and members of the public for reporting illegal sales and encourage everyone to continue doing so to reduce the harm caused by tobacco in our communities.”

Councillor Pauleen Grahame of the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee which oversees the work of Trading Standards said “it is clearly irresponsible not to check the age of teenage customers wanting to purchase age restricted goods. Test purchases are undertaken regularly by Trading Standards staff to ensure shops adhere to the law on tobacco, e-cigarette and alcohol sales. The simple task of asking for identification and verifying the age of younger customers will help to reduce underage tobacco use.”

Consumers wishing to report illegal trading practices, including the sale of age restricted goods to children can call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 to report their concerns  -  this can be done anonymously.