Online shopping giant Amazon has been fined £65,000 at Southwark Crown Court after being found guilty of attempting to ship potentially explosive and dangerous goods by air.
Earlier this week, the British branch of the internet shopping company was convicted at Southwark crown court on four charges of causing dangerous goods to be delivered by air after being prosecuted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The company transported lithium-ion batteries and flammable gas areosols, destined for flights within and outside in four shipments between January 2014 and June 2015.
The breach of safety regulations could have put travellers’ lives at risk.
Lithium-ion batteries are used in mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and hoverboard.They are not permitted in the hold of a passenger jet in case they explode.
The items were found by Royal Mail officials as part of routine screening before being boarded on planes bound for Jersey and Northern Ireland.
“The safety of the public, our customers, employees and partners is an absolute priority. We ship millions of products every week and are confident in the sophisticated technologies and processes we have developed to detect potential shipping hazards. We are constantly working to further improve and will continue to work with the CAA in this area,” Amazon said in a statement released on Friday.
Amazon initially faced 11 counts, but the company was cleared of one charge and six will stay on file after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Air Navigation Regulations stipulate how packages must be handled when transported by air and have stringent rules on packing, marking, labeling and documentation.
A recent investigation by ProPublica, which looked at 250 Amazon products over several weeks, found that Amazon's algorithms push customers towards more expensive products.
Amazon told the researchers that the algorithms are complex and consider many different factor.
Additional reporting by PA
