Three men were caught selling vapes to children in Liverpool.
An undercover sting run by Liverpool City Council saw three men caught illegally selling vapes to children as young as 13 at three different shops across the city. It is illegal to sell vaping liquids containing nicotine to anyone below the age of 18.
At Liverpool Magistrates Court last week, three men pleaded guilty to selling nicotine inhaling products to a person aged under 18.
The first case concerned 19-year-old Ali Mustawi who was caught selling an 'Elf' vape pen to a 13-year-old volunteer on July 28 last year at Vape and Phone Land in Scargreen Avenue in Norris Green.
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The defendant attended court and entered immediate guilty pleas, accepting full responsibility for the sale although he stated he only worked at the premises on an occasional basis.
Liverpool City Council was awarded a £300 contribution to its costs, with an extra £5 added for the cost of the vape pen. Mustawi must also pay a mandatory victim surcharge taking his total costs to £331.
The second undercover case saw 19-year-old Dilshad Shad Sadun caught selling a vape - specifically an Elf Bar 600 Mad Blue vape pen - to a 13-year-old volunteer on the same day - July 28 - last year at Adams News on County Road in L4.
The defendant didn't attend court last Thursday but did enter a guilty plea by post. He accepted full responsibility for the sale stating that he had been busy on the day in question carrying out other duties and had essentially “taken his eye off the ball.”
Liverpool Council was awarded a £300 contribution towards its costs with an extra £5 added for the cost of the vape pen. A mandatory victim surcharge was also added, meaning the defendant has a total 0f £331 to pay.
The third undercover operation saw 72-year-old Salah Ben Shahed selling an Elf Vape Pen to a 15-year-old volunteer at The Kiosk in Queen Square in Liverpool city centre on November 11 last year.
The defendant didn't attend court but did enter a guilty plea by post. The city council was awarded a £160 contribution towards its costs, with an extra £5 added for the cost of the vape pen. A mandatory surcharge was added, meaning the defendant had a total of £191 to pay.
In all three cases the magistrates granted a destruction order for the seized items.
A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “These prosecutions were brought forward as part of regular test purchases we conduct to ensure premises are complying with the law in respect of age restricted products.
"Tests purchases for underage sales of items such as alcohol, tobacco and in these cases, vaping products are carried out by a fantastic team of volunteer young people – and we thank them for their continued support.
"Test purchases are usually undertaken at premises where intelligence indicates a retailer has either sold age restricted products previously or are located in a ‘hotspot’ area - so our message is that we are actively monitoring underage sales, and that retailers should always ask young people for age identification.
"If they are in any doubt they should refuse, as we will always prosecute in these cases – not only to enforce the law, but to keep our children and young people safe. Retailers should equally report situations where they suspect adults are buying age restricted products for underage children.”
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