Uk: 2 Sentenced To 20 months For Counterfeiting ink Ctgs

[Anonymous]

Uk: 2 Sentenced To 20 months For Counterfeiting ink Cartridges

TWO men have been sentenced over the production and sale of counterfeit ink cartridges.
Barry Goodhead, 39, of Nottingham Way, Langdon Hills, and John Watson, 47, of Main Road, Hawkwell, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday, August 8.The court heard that Goodhead , through his company Red Dog Consumables Ltd, sold toner cartridges by companies Brother and Ricoh, claiming they were brand new.In fact, they were used cartridges that Goodhead had refilled and had put in phoney packaging.Watson’s company, Cumberland Packaging Ltd, which was also prosecuted as a separate entity, unwittingly produced the fake packaging.

Prosecution barrister Alison Lambert told the court that the scam, which ran for almost three years, generated almost £2.5million for Goodhead’s company.The court heard that Watson was prosecuted because his company should have checked whether Goodhead had the right to use Brother and Ricoh’s trademarks before producing the packaging.Barrister Allan Compton, defending Goodhead, said his client had embarked on the fraud out of ‘desperation’.He told the court, presided over by Judge John Lodge, that Goodhead had run an office supply company with his mother but had ‘struggled to keep it afloat’.

He said that when Goodhead and his mother were left with a £100,000 bill they could not pay, they faced losing everything, including their homes.He said Goodhead turned his legitimate business into a criminal enterprise because of ‘a desperate need to repay the bank’.Mr Compton said Goodhead felt unable to cease the criminal activity because he employed 14 or 15 people, including his father.

He told the court: “Although he knew what he was doing was wrong, it wasn’t as wrong as many other things.”He claimed that the cartridges were not ‘substandard’ or ‘poor quality’.He said: “He’s providing exactly the same thing [as the real company]. They are genuine cartridges, genuine ink and exactly the same packaging.”He said Goodhead was ‘broken’ by what had happened to him and would not fare well in prison.He told Judge Lodge: “Every day he spends in prison will probably be equivalent to three, four, five days for many of those who come through these courts.”He said that waiting for sentence was in itself a punishment.He said Goodhead, since his arrest in July 2010, had endured ‘a long and difficult two years without much cause for enjoyment’.

Judge Lodge disagreed, telling Goodhead: “Companies are entitled to protect their products by trademarks. What you did was to short circuit things. You knew that you could get hold of old, empty products and fill them. You could have done that perfectly legitimately. You chose to make more money by selling them as legitimate products, which they were not. You did that over a lengthy period of time. People need to know they have their trademarks protected.”He sentenced Goodhead to 20 months in prison. An order for costs and compensation will be made at a later date.Watson was handed a four-month suspended sentence. His company was fined £10,000 plus a £15 victim surcharge. The company was also ordered to pay £10,317.61 in costs.

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August 16, 2012 at 8:35 AM