Leeds Centre shop sells electronic cigarette to a child

On the 22^nd July 2024, Mr Sohaib Mohammad from Bradford appeared at Kirklees Magistrates Court regarding the sale of a disposable electronic cigarette to a child under the age of 18 from his business Briggate Phones Limited, 55 Briggate, Leeds, LS2 8JD. Mr Mohammad, the Director of the business, pleaded guilty to the company committing the offence under the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 and the Children and Families Act and was fined £107 reduced for a guilty plea and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £43 and costs of £2172.50.  Mr Mohammad also pleaded guilty to being charged with the sale of the disposable electronic cigarette to a person under the age of 18 was personally fined £184 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £74.

The case was launched after West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service (WYTSS) received complaints about the premises selling electronic cigarettes to underage children. In January 2024 a 14-year-old volunteer entered the shop, under the supervision of a Trading Standards Officer, and asked to buy an Elf Bar 600. They were able buy an Elf Bar 600 Banana Ice flavour disposable electronic cigarette for £5.00 without being challenged about their age or asked for any form of ID by the seller. It is an offence to sell electronic cigarettes to a person under the age of 18.

Mr Mohammad, the Director of the business was interviewed later. During the interview a prepared statement was read where Mr Mohammad said he was the owner and sole Director of Briggate Phones Limited and that he had overall responsibility for all areas of the company. Mr Mohammad said he has one employee who reports to him and that he had neither received nor given any formal training regarding underage sales. Since the test purchase he has sought advice on age restricted sales and put measures in place and given his employee training.

Mr Mohammad accepted full responsibility for the sale and explained that he was not paying full attention to the test purchaser as he was carrying out a difficult repair to a mobile phone. He thought the test purchaser was 18 and would not have sold if he had known they were 14 years old.

David Strover, Head of Trading Standards (Business Services) said, “the sale of vapes 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.  Retailers need to ensure they have systems in place to avoid selling vapes to minors and train their staff accordingly.  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 to children by vapes and tobacco.” 

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 vapes, tobacco and alcohol sales. The simple task of asking for identification and verifying the age of younger customers will help to reduce underage vaping and 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.