Co Down Bar Owner Fined For Selling Counterfeit Vodka

A Co Down bar owner has been fined for selling counterfeit vodka at Downpatrick Magistrates' Court.

Mr Patrick Robert Maginn, 55, from Newcastle, pleaded guilty to three charges and was fined £6,000.

In a case brought by the Trading Standards Service (TSS) of the Department for the Economy, he was charged under Section 92 of Trade Marks Act 1994. The court also granted a forfeiture order in relation to the bottles of vodka seized by Trading Standards.

This investigation began following an allegation that Quinn's Bar and Off Sales was selling fake Smirnoff vodka on its premises. On 18 December 2014 Trading Standards Officers carried out a test purchase of a one litre bottle of Smirnoff Red No 21 from Quinn's Off Sales which was immediately confirmed as counterfeit by a Diageo representative.

Officers seized five bottles of Smirnoff Red No 21 that were also fake.

Officers also carried out an inspection of the adjoining bar premises and 24 1.5 litre bottles of Smirnoff Red No 21 were identified as being counterfeit from the optics of the upstairs and downstairs bar areas. An inspection by the Diageo representative revealed that all but one of the bottles had fake labels. A field test of the liquid established that none of the bottles contained genuine Smirnoff product.

All counterfeit products were seized by TSS officers. No genuine Smirnoff product was identified by officers carrying out the inspection of the bar areas.

Samples of the fake vodka were examined by the Public Analyst and found to have an alcohol content of 32.7%. The minimum alcoholic strength for a liquid described as Vodka is 37.5%. The analyst further confirmed that the sample liquid was not Smirnoff.

(CD/LM)