(Image: North Yorkshire Council)
Consumer watchdogs found illegal vapes and counterfeit tobacco hidden in sweet boxes when they searched a shop, York magistrates heard.
Some of the vapes recovered by trading standards officers from the Lewiatan Ltd store were advertised as having enough nicotine containing liquid for 15,000 puffs. In legal vapes, the average is 600 puffs, North Yorkshire Council revealed.
Cllr Richard Foster, the council's executive member for managing the environment, said: "This shop has shown a blatant disregard for the law, putting profit ahead of public safety."
Shahram Sharifi, 37, who was a director of Lewiatan Ltd until June 14, 2024, and is now working in a shop in Manchester, pleaded guilty to offences relating to counterfeit tobacco, packaging, and illegal vapes. He was fined £461 and ordered to pay a £184 surcharge and £1,500 in prosecution costs.
Fellow director Araf Fathi, 33, of St Helens, Merseyside, admitted trademark, packaging and vape offences and was fined £384, with a £154 surcharge and £500 costs.
Lewiatan Ltd , which ran the store on Sackville Street in Skipton, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay a £2,000 surcharge and £1,000 in costs after it admitted similar offences.
In March, North Yorkshire Council revoked the shop’s alcohol licence, citing concerns over crime, public safety, and the protection of children.