The former owner of an Ellesmere Port shop which sold illegal cigarettes and sold a vape to a 14-year-old has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds.

Hersh Mamand, 41, of Wildbrook Drive, Birkenhead, Wirral, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to 14 charges when he appeared at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, October 9.

Prosecuting, Andrew Harrison said Mamand was the owner of Easy Shop in Whitby Road in 2023.

Trading Standards and Cheshire West and Chester Council officers made an unannounced inspection at the shop in March 8 that year and found 17 packs of counterfeit cigarettes, plus six packs of counterfeit rolling tobacco.

In addition, 361 electronic cigarettes were found containing illegally high levels of nicotine, some of them up to nine times the legally permitted levels.

The court heard such regulations were in place to ensure the liquid was not potentially lethal to users.

Mamand was interviewed and accepted he was involved in the purchasing of the stock.

On October 18 that year, officers returned to the shop, accompanied by a 14-year-old volunteer. The volunteer was able to purchase a watermelon-flavoured e-cigarette and did not have their ID checked, nor were they asked their age before leaving the shop.

Officers searched the shop and found 175 illegal e-cigarettes, again containing up to nine times the permitted levels of nicotine-containing liquid.

Interviewed under caution, Mamand said he had not purchased those vapes on sale in the shop.

Defending, Andrew Sinker said this was Mamand's first experience of running a shop, having previously been involved in the running of a pizza place.

Mamand was "unfamiliar with the regulations" and accepted the offences had taken place.

The court heard Mamand had bought the counterfeit goods from a wholesaler in Manchester and had believed them to be genuine and available for the best price.

Following the March visit by officers, Mamand switched to buying e-cigarettes online instead of the wholesaler. The court heard Mamand had said the illegal e-cigarettes had been bought by someone else.

For the sale of a vape to a 14-year-old, Mr Sinker said Mamand had "tried to drum it into" the member of staff that they should always check for ID if someone looked underage.

Since the October 2023 offences, Mamand was no longer trading at that shop and was now working back at a pizza place.

He had no previous convictions.

Magistrates ordered Mamand to pay a total of £2,218, comprising of £1,244 prosecution costs, £696 in fines and a £278 victim surcharge.

The goods seized by officers were to be forfeited and destroyed.