Barking and Dagenham market trader selling dangerous toys forced to pay £1,000
Another market trader Rashid Suleman unknowingly sells a dangerous doll to Post reporter Anna Dubois in a seperate incident. - Credit: Archant
A market trader who put children’s lives at risk by selling dangerous toys has been forced to pay more than £1,000.
Yakub Patel, of Green Lane, Dagenham, was fined after Barking and Dagenham Council’s Trading Standards team seized 27 dangerous toys on display at his Barking Market stall on November 18 2013.
Less than a month later Patel was caught displaying more dangerous toys, this time at Dagenham Market on December 15.
The toys, including dolls and pushchairs, were confiscated for failing to comply with legal safety requirements, rendering them unsafe for children.
Patel was found guilty of four offences under the Toy (Safety) Regulations 2011 of the Consumer Act 1987 on June 20 at Barkingside Magistrate Court and fined £350, with £700 costs awarded to the council.
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He has since closed his business.
Cllr Laila Butt, cabinet member for crime and enforcement, said: “Mr Patel put children’s lives in danger by offering for sale unsafe toys at the market place.
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“Although he targeted people at Christmas, shoppers should be aware of buying fake goods all year round.
“Businesses in the borough need to take responsibility and abide by the law. Those who don’t will face consequences and prosecution.”
In May 2013 the Post exposed Barking Market traders who were unwittingly selling banned dolls containing poisonous chemicals.
A government warning was issued over the “fruit head dolls” a year ago after tests on the toys revealed traces of DEHP, a dangerous substance used to make some plastics, which can also cause deformities in unborn babies and male infertility.
This led to a Europe-wide product recall in May 2012, but two traders were found to be selling the toys and bought one for £8.
Trader Rashid Suleman, pictured, said: “I buy from a wholesalers. In December I bought about three or four boxes of the dolls.
“I didn’t know there was any problem with them. If the council had said something I would have taken them down. I will now take them down of course – I have kids myself.”
Read more:
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Poisonous’ dolls unknowingly sold to customers in Barking Market
Concerns more dangerous toys sold in Barking and Dagenham markets
Barking man in court on affray and dangerous driving charges
£305 bill for Dagenham man who stole toys, dolls and slow cooker from Argos
