A woman who stashed up to £40,000 worth of fake branded clothing at a Moray travellers site has been spared jail.
Joan Stewart sold fake brand name clothing, shoes and accessories over the internet for months before being snared by a trading standards sting operation.
The 42-year-old off-loaded the dodgy wares – which she kept in a temporary hut near her home – to customers in Moray and the Highlands via a Facebook page.
But, in May 2014 trading standards officers raided her home at The Pines, near Lhanbryde and filled 46 large evidence bags with her stock.
At the time, it was the biggest haul of fake wares the Moray Council squad had ever netted.
Yesterday, Stewart’s lawyer told Elgin Sheriff Court she was merely a “a very small cog in a much larger operation” run by crooks in England.
She admitted five charges of breaching the Trading Standards Act by selling goods with the intent to cause gain for herself and to cause loss to another.
Fiscal Ruaridh McAllister said the Crown had estimated the value of the goods at £6,995, but trading standards officers say the cache of merchandise had a street value of up to £40,000.
The court heard the mum-of-three became embroiled in the enterprise during a shopping trip to Manchester in 2013.
When purchasing what she knew to be counterfeit clothing from a stall-holder, she struck up conversation with him.
She agreed to sell items over Facebook on behalf of the Manchester traders, after being told she could have her pick of fake clothing.
But the scheme came undone when trading standards teams from Highland and Moray Council learnt about it towards the end of that year.
They hatched a plan to snare Stewart, and carried out a string of illicit purchases.
Using a pseudonym account, they contacted her in February 2014 and bought a hoodie supposedly made by the Superdry clothing line for £70.
Experts analysed the top and confirmed that it was counterfeit, and further test purchases – of a fake Hollister tracksuit and pair of imitation Nike trainers – returned the same verdict.
Officers duped Stewart into supplying information on where the stash was kept when they told her the shoes were the wrong size and would need to be returned.
On May 9, 2014, they swooped on her home and a panicked Stewart told the officers that the goods were piled up in a temporary hut outside.
The haul included fake Barbour and Armani jackets, Chanel scarves and jewellery, Converse and Nike trainers, Ralph Lauren T-shirts and polo shirts, Jimmy Choo bags and handbags, Rayban sunglasses and Ugg boots.
Representing Stewart, solicitor Stephen Carty said: “My client was a very small cog in a much bigger operation, and wasn’t aware of the gravity of the situation.
“She just made about £100 a week, the vast majority of the funds went to the supplier in Manchester.”
Stewart, of 1 The Pines at Coxton, near Lhanbryde, was told she could “easily” have been sent to prison.
But Sheriff Chris Dickson said he would allow her to remain at liberty as she was looking after three children on her own.
He instead ordered her to complete 165 hours of community service over the next year.
Last night Peter Adamson, the council’s trading standards manager, added: “This case is a warning to other dealers of fake goods that, if they continue to carry out this type of criminal activity, we will find them and they will face significant penalties for their actions.”
