A 38-year old former town councillor has been jailed for selling fake designer goods on eBay. Richard Burge, from Conwy, was caught by Trading Standards officers with fake Armani jeans and 85 other counterfeit designer items which would have been worth £7,000 if genuine. Burge admitted 8 trademark offences, one trades descriptions offence, and asked for a further 78 offences to be taken into account. He was sentenced to six months.
Burge’s defence said that he began trading legitimately on eBay to supplement his income, but that his selling of fakes “snowballed”. He quit his local councillor position when charged, and said that he had stopped selling the fakes before Trading Standards began their investigation.
Just £7,000 really isn’t worth the risk of ending up in jail. Anyone even toying with the idea of selling fakes ought to bear in mind that stopping selling is no guarantee that you won’t end up inside.
2 Responses
“Just £7,000 really isn’t worth the risk of ending up in jail.”
How much is then?
You tell me – everyone has their price.