A woman who sold fake goods that would have been worth £35,000 if they had been the real thing narrowly avoided a jail sentence yesterday.
Donna Stewart, 38, was charged with selling clothes, accessories and jewellery with famous names including Rolex, Tiffany and Jimmy Choo.
She admitted 15 charges of selling the goods from addresses in Beauly and Kiltarlity in 2013 and 2014 – and sentence was deferred to Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
Stewart had faced a jail sentence – but Sheriff David Sutherland decided to deal with her by way of unpaid work in the community, despite an analogous previous conviction.
The maximum hours he could have applied was 300 hours, and he decided to impose 240 hours to indicate the court’s displeasure.
The maximum jail sentence was six months.
After being dealt with, Stewart, of 14 Loanheim, Kiltarlity, near Beauly smiled as she left the dock and was buoyant outside the court as she phoned friends.
Stewart originally faced a total of 43 charges and pleaded guilty to the reduced number of charges of possessing goods with fake labels involving some of the world’s top names which could be mistaken for registered trademarks.
Some of them included Stone Island, Hollister&Co, Barbour and Burberry. She also admitted having a watch with the Rolex brand name, a ‘Tiffany’ necklace and bracelet, ‘Ugg’ boots and a scarf.
Other fake goods named in the charges included ‘Jimmy Choo’ perfume, ‘Louis Vuitton’ purses and bracelets, a set of ‘Beats’ electronic headphones and ‘Chanel’ make-up and ear-rings.
Defence lawyer Rory Gowans told the court that Stewart had tried to make extra income for the family business.
“The offence is exacerbated by her previous conviction. But the background report is favourable and she is assessed as low risk of re-offending.
“She bought the goods in bulk in Glasgow for £2,000 but there were no significant profit margins. She would sell them on for £20-£40 with each item costing around £15.
“People knew they were not the real McCoy. She was only going to make about £400 profit. It was a very foolish thing to do but she was trying to make ends meet and against her better judgement, she again became involved in this enterprise.
“She knows it is a serious offence and that custody is an option but she has well and truly learned her lesson.”
Sentencing her to include two years social work supervision, the Sheriff told Stewart: “You may well have sold these as fake goods, but it was on to friends and vulnerable people in society who cannot afford the real thing.”
Last night, David MacKenzie, Highland Council’s Trading Standards Team Leader, said: “Fake goods cheat consumers, undermine legitimate local businesses and damage the interests of those who own the intellectual property rights. The public need to play their part by not supporting this illegal trade and those who chose to supply fakes can expect to be found out and firmly dealt with. If anyone has any information about sales of counterfeit goods, they can let us know anonymously online.”
