'Ashamed' owner of Portsmouth International Food Centre in Fratton avoids jail after discovery of thousands of 'significantly' dangerous illegal 'Rothmans' cigarettes

Saman Hassan Ali appeared in Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday, after police discovered a total of 877 packets of illegal cigarettes in his van outside his store, Portsmouth International Food Centre in Fratton Road.

At his trial in Southampton Crown Court in December, Ali had pleaded not guilty to four charges linked to the stash - but a jury convicted the Portsmouth shopkeeper after hearing that the dangerous smokes posed significant additional harm to their users.

Now Ali has been handed a suspended prison sentence of 18 months - with his jail time avoided due to its impact on his large family. He was prosecuted by Portsmouth City Council’s trading standards department.

It's the second time the businessman has broken the law around tobacco regulations, with a prior conviction for having 285 packets of dodgy cigarettes in 2016.

The latest conviction follows police officers being called to an unrelated disturbance near Ali's shop in September 2020, resulting in officers searching the nearby van and uncovering the cigarettes.

The packets - which included 222 counterfeit cigarettes masquerading as Richmond and Rothmans International products - were deemed suspicious and later found to be breaching the legal maximum levels for tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide emissions.

When interviewed, Ali said he did not know where the cigarettes had come from and the van had been driven by an associate, who had been instructed to pick up vegetables from London.

But officer's body-cam footage from the time of the search showed Ali telling police that he had undertaken a trip to London the night before.

Prosecuting barrister Edward Elton said the seemingly innocuous cigarettes presented 'significant additional harm' to anyone who smoked them.

Addressing the judge in court, he added: 'They were palpably more dangerous.'

Defending barrister Jason Halsey said the father-of-six - who grew up in Iraq and fled due to political persecution - had worked hard to build a life in the UK and was well-respected by those that knew him.

He said: ‘He has high aspirations for his family, and he is ashamed that he is in court as it doesn't set the best example for his children.

‘He is not a violent man, and he does not pose a high or medium risk of re-offending.

‘If he goes to prison today, his family will lose their income and likely lose their house.’

Passing sentence, Recorder James Watson KC spared the businessman from immediately serving time inside a prison - but warned that he was in the ‘last-chance saloon’.

Mr Watson said: 'I have been swayed by the mitigation. An immediate sentence will have a grave impact on others and others who are dependent on you.

'I need hardly add that given the sentences past (after the prior conviction) and where there to be any further prosecution of this illicit trading, the court would have few options lefts open to it.'

Ali's suspended sentence runs for 18 months and he must complete 200 hours of unpaid work across the next 12 months.

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Cllr Jason Fazackarley, cabinet member for safety in the community at Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘This shop had 877 packets of illegal cigarettes, worth almost £8,500. People smoking such products could be exposed to greater harm, because the ingredients aren't regulated. The supply of illegal tobacco is linked to organised crime, and damages local businesses that obey the law. It also targets young people and people on lower incomes. We hope the sentence will send a strong message to others that supplying illegal tobacco is a serious matter with serious consequences.’

The council's work on illicit tobacco work benefits from funding by Op CeCe, a initiative from National Trading Standards and HMRC.

Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, said: ‘The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law. Having removed 21 million illegal cigarettes, 5,800kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade.’