Assay master calls for more hallmarking after jeweller trial

Mr Carson called for greater attention to the Hallmarking Act 1973, after Mukhtar Ahmed, owner of Mangla Jewellers, pleaded guilty to 11 offences under the Act and was ordered to pay £1,700 in fines and costs.

Mr Carson described hallmarking as being “vital for the integrity of the entire industry,” and described it as the “envy” of other nations.

“We hope this case acts as a warning to others and ensures that any other traders will not take the same risks and make the same mistakes in the future,” he added.

In recent years, Bradford has been the subject of a crackdown by the Sheffield Assay Office and the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service, which convened to ‘assess the level of compliance’ with the Hallmarking Act across the city in 2009 and 2010.

The two bodies carried out inspections at high street jewellers and inspected Mr Ahmed’s store on four occasions during this period. He was instructed on all four inspections that all items must be hallmarked before being put on sale, but an undercover officer was later sold a gold ring which had not been hallmarked.

A full inspection ensued and found that 90 per cent of Mr Ahmed’s stock was unmarked. Fines and costs of £1,700 were handed down by Bradford magistrates on 14 February.