A man was found with more than 60,000 cigarettes when trading standards officers raided a flat above a minimarket in Southport.
32-year-old Alan Alani, who lived in the flat above Wisla Supermarket in Lord Street, finally admitted possessing the counterfeit cigarettes at Liverpool Crown Court this week, more than three years after his arrest in July 2018.
On his arrest, he told police he had been acting as a “middle man”, and in court on Wednesday (August 11) said he had been offered a job selling cigarettes at the minimarket while he was homeless and out of work.
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A probation officer told the court that Alani had arrived in the UK around 15 years ago after fleeing political persecution in Iran, but his status as an asylum seeker prevented him from finding work or accommodation.
The probation officer said: “He had gone out for a meal one day and was offered employment selling cigarettes.
“He says he hadn’t really thought of the goods being counterfeit or illegal, he was just grateful for the opportunity to earn a wage in order to live.
“He says that he has done this for a period of time and it was only when he was arrested and questioned by the police that he came to the realisation that the goods were in fact counterfeit.”
Sefton Council’s trading standards officers raided the supermarket on July 18, 2018, where Alani was working as a supervisor.
In one of the flats above the shop, officers found 3,324 packets of 20 cigarettes marked with fake logos for Richmond, Regal, Mayfair and Winston, described in court as “a large quantity” worth more than £33,000.
Freddie Humphreys, prosecuting, told the court on Wednesday (August 11): “When interviewed, Mr Alani refused to accept that he was a manager of the store and said he was a supervisor.
“Text messages between Mr Alani and another member of staff show her asking him to bring cigarettes to the shop and him agreeing to do so for her.”
Carmel Wilde, defending Alani, said he had turned his life around since his arrest and had received temporary leave to remain, allowing him to claim universal credit and look for work.
She said he had received a job offer from a barber’s to start in two weeks, whereas at the time of his offending he was “homeless and struggling to live” and others had taken advantage of his “precarious position”.
Alani had been due to stand trial on Monday (August 9), but pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing counterfeit goods before the jury was sworn in. Four similar charges against him were dropped.
Miss Recorder Brown sentenced Alani to a 12-month community order requiring him to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay £500 towards prosecution costs.
A second man, 39-year-old Rekar Jabar, of Burselm in Staffordshire, was also due to stand trial on Monday but was not present in court. His trial has been adjourned for eight weeks.
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