A SHIRLEY business has permanently closed after the owner was sentenced at court.
Solihull’s licensing team and West Midlands Police’s Shirley neighbourhood team have been assisting Solihull Council’s Trading Standards with an investigation into Boss Mart 4 on Stratford Road, following multiple incidents of failed test purchases, seizures of illicit tobacco and illegal vapes.
An application for a closure order was being pursued, before the owner of the business was evicted by the landlord and the shop was closed down.
The landlord of the building agreed to evict the Boss Mart owner and staff along with all stock.
As a result, the closure order application was withdrawn.
Dawood Kharoty, owner of Boss Mart was sentenced in his absence at court, where he was given fines totalling £6,749 which is due for payment within 28 days.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the seized items.
Following our last visit to the business last month, along with Trading Standards, 4350 packets of illegal tobacco and 837 packets of illegal hand rolling tobacco were seized.
And 68 single use vapes were also seized as they are not permitted to be sold by law.
A total of 27 Labubu dolls – suspected to be counterfeit were also seized.
Fireworks were also found during this visit, the premises is not licensed to sell fireworks and they were not stored safely.
PC Prescott, from West Midlands Police’s Solihull licensing team, said: “Our teams work hard to support our partners with investigations around all reports of offences being committed at retail premises – and we’ve been determined to take action at this location.
“Our aim is to protect vulnerable victims and make our community safer.
“Selling high strength vapes and selling vapes to children pose serious health risk to children and young people living in the vicinity of the shop. Cigarettes and vapes sold at low prices can make the products attractive to children and encourage smoking at an early age. By supplying these products to children can open them to potential exploitation and criminality.
“The seized products (illegal disposable vapes, illegal cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco) have a serious detriment to the general public’s health.
“Many of the seized vapes contain many times the permitted volume of liquid containing nicotine which encourages addiction. Illegal vapes also contain possible traces of heavy metals.
“Counterfeit tobacco can contain high levels of tar and nicotine, as well as other unknown/unregulated substances as the quality control during production is unknown.”
