Shotton e-cigarette shop fined £1000 for selling unsafe chargers

An importer who supplied unsafe e cigarette chargers in his Deeside shop has been prosecuted by Flintshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service.

Mr Anthony Bowman, Managing Director of Crystal Clear Vape Limited pleaded guilty to offences of supplying an unsafe electronic cigarette kit which didn’t meet the requirements of The General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

The kit was supplied with a charger which was not properly insulated or wired and was not adequately labelled.

It posed a risk of electric shock to the user and possible fire hazard due to overheating.

Mr Bowman and Crystal Clear Vape Limited were each fined £500 and ordered to pay £50 victim surcharge together with the prosecution costs.

Trading Standards officers test-purchased the e cigarette kit earlier this year after receiving a complaint that a kit purchased from the Crystal Clear Vapours shop in Shotton had overheated and caught fire as it was being charged with a power unit.

In this instance the power unit had not been bought from the Crystal Clear shop, however a subsequent examination of the test-purchased e cigarette kit and the complaint item by an expert witness proved that the charger supplied with the test-purchased kit did not comply with the regulations.

In mitigation Mr Bowman stated that he had imported the items from China and had not fully understood the responsibilities placed on him to ensure that the products met safety requirements.

He told the court that he did not come from a technical background but was now sourcing fully tested products from a reputable importer and was confident that they are safe, he also stated that he had also reduced the scale of his e cigarette business.

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