Wakefield Shop Guilty of Selling Oversized E-Cigarette to 14 Year Old Child

On 29^th February 2024, Milano Market Ltd of Wakefield and the company director Mr Mehran Rostami of Sheffield were due to appear at Kirklees Magistrates Court to answer the charges of selling an oversized electronic cigarette to a 14-year-old child at the premises Milano Market, 91 Kirkgate, Wakefield, WF1 1JG.

It is an offence to sell an electronic cigarette containing nicotine to anyone under 18. The electronic cigarette concerned was illegal as it was oversized, containing more than the permitted 2ml of nicotine liquid. Neither a representative for Milano Market Ltd, nor Mr Rostami attended court and the case was heard in their absence.

The Magistrates found the company and Mr Rostami guilty of the offences under the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The Magistrates fined  the company  £1100 and imposed a victim surcharge of £440. The Magistrates also ordered that the prosecution costs of £2089.58 were split evenly between the company and the director Mr Rostami.

The case was launched after West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service received a complaint regarding the premises allegedly selling vapes to children.

In August 2023, a 14-year-old volunteer entered the shop under the supervision of a Trading Standards Officer, and asked to buy a vape. The seller sold an ENE 3500 Legend Cotton Candy flavoured electronic cigarette to the volunteer for £10, without asking for identification or challenging their age. It is an offence to sell electronic cigarettes containing nicotine to a person under the age of 18. It is also an offence to sell a disposable electronic cigarette with a tank size that exceeds 2 millilitres, or 600 puffs. Mr Rostami was interviewed at a later date where he took full responsibility for the underage sale and said he was not aware of the maximum volume permitted for  disposable electronic cigarettes.

David Strover, Trading Standards Manager - Business Services Team said, “the flagrant sale of vapes to children should not be happening within our communities. We wrote to these businesses to make them aware of complaints we had received and informed them a test purchase may follow. The health risks associated with juvenile use of vapes should not be underestimated.  Vapes are an adult product suitable for ex-smokers -  the sale of these items to children is not acceptable. Shops 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 by tobacco and vapes in our communities.”

Councillor Melanie Jones, Chair of  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.