London borough of Southwark wins Touchstone Award 2014

The British Hallmark Council and the four Assay Offices of the UK have announced the London borough of Southwark is the winner of the Touchstone Award 2014. In its third annual presentation, the Touchstone Award recognises innovative initiatives undertaken in relation to hallmarking legislation. Southwark’s initiative was prompted by a complaint from a member of the public. An efficient response and a thorough investigation revealed a major fraudulent trading exercise in the borough. On March 12 this year, Mr Alireza Haji, 41, of Mill Hill, was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 120 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to seven offences under the Trade Marks Act and Hallmarking Act at Woolwich Crown Court. Haji traded as the Phone Clinic, a phone and computer repair business, but the offences related to the supply of counterfeit Links of London and Pandora jewellery – some of which was not sterling silver as described, and some of which bore counterfeit hallmarks. Over 1,000 items of jewellery were seized from the premises on September 2011 and the court ordered that these be forfeited for destruction. Many were marked 925, but the Assay Office confirmed that the items were not silver. Further investigations revealed Hallmarking and Trade Marking offences, including counterfeit hallmarks. Accepting the award on behalf of Southwark, Justin Miller, said: “We are very pleased with the outcome of this case and it is a bonus to be recognised in this way. “As a result of the serious offences identified we will now be proceeding with a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.” Robert Grice, champion of the Touchstone Award for the British Hallmarking Council, said: “Accolades for trading standards departments inevitably focus on prevention of activities which are potentially harmful to health or even life threatening, such as unsafe fireworks and counterfeit alcohol. “However, people ignoring the hallmarking legislation may be defrauding large numbers of the population, many of whom might be vulnerable and dependent on the value of their jewellery as an investment. “Hallmarking legislation is a challenging area for trading standards officers who constantly strive to ensure that the public are not being cheated out of substantial amounts of money.”