A CHESHIRE West couple have been banned from being company directors after defrauding customers of their technology business by selling fake Apple products.

Andrew Twigg, of Manor Drive, Barnton, was disqualified from running companies for 11 years by the Insolvency Service on July 1, after admitting nine counts of criminal trademark offences, and four of breaching electrical equipment safety regulations.

In February 2022, the 38-year-old was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, 250 hours unpaid work, and a whopping £113,000 fine by a judge a Chester Crown Court.

And, at a proceeds from crime hearing in July 2022, also at Chester Crown Court, he was ordered to pay back £45,035 plus £11,296 prosecution costs.

His ban was enacted for ‘causing Twigg Tech Limited to trade in counterfeit good and goods which were unsafe for consumers’.

His wife, 36-year-old Serena Twigg, who was also a Twigg Tech director, was barred for three-and-a-half years for ‘failing to enact adequate control’ over the firm’s business practices’.

Andrew Twigg set up the company in October 2015, operating from a substantial wooden cabin in the back garden of his Barnton home.

Between October 2015 and October 2018, Twigg Tech turned over more than £960,000, with taxable profits of more than £108,000.

After a referral was made by the Intellectual Property Office, Cheshire West and Chester Council trading standards officers and the police carried out a search at their home in April 2019, when 5,147 items were seized.

Of those, 95 per cent of them were found to bear marks likely to be considered trademarks of Apple or Underwriters Laboratories (UL).

An examination of eBay sales between March 2015 and March 2019 suggested at least 17,615 out of 94,605 sales were for infringing items, with a sales value of more than £64,000.

Further examinations were carried out on sample of power supplies and car chargers seized in April 2019, revealing breaches of the electrical equipment regulations.

When interviewed by police, Twigg said he believed the items to be safe, due to the lack of complaints received.

At his criminal sentence hearing at Chester Crown Court back in February 2022, counsel for Mr Twigg, Peter Gilmour, said his client was ‘full of genuine remorse’ for what he had done.

He added: "It had started off as a hobby before he spotted an opportunity to make some profit and wrongly decided to take that course.

"There is no evidence of substantial harm done to Apple, with it being such a large company, which is not to take anything away from the offending.

"He has no previous convictions, is a family man of good character, and is thoroughly ashamed he got himself involved in the offending.

"I don't seek to imply that he didn't know what he was doing.”

Andrew and Serena Twigg may not act as a director of any company registered in the UK, or an overseas company that has connections with the UK, until their disqualification period is over.

If they do, they could fined or sent to prison for up to two years.