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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/21/shopkeeper-gets-jail-for-selling-illegal-skin-lightening-products
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| Shopkeeper gets jail for selling illegal skin lightening products | Shopkeeper gets jail for selling illegal skin lightening products |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A shopkeeper has been jailed for 20 months for selling illegal and toxic skin-lightening products, in the first custodial sentence of its kind. | A shopkeeper has been jailed for 20 months for selling illegal and toxic skin-lightening products, in the first custodial sentence of its kind. |
| Mohammed Iqbal Bharodawala, 45, and his company, Jenny’s Cosmetics, admitted nine charges of selling the products, which contain the banned ingredient hydroquinone. | |
| Bharodawala also admitted 15 charges relating to inadequate labelling of the harmful products, which were confiscated by Southwark council in January. | |
| Hydroquinone, which was banned in the UK in 2001, harms the skin and is linked to damage of the liver and nervous system. | Hydroquinone, which was banned in the UK in 2001, harms the skin and is linked to damage of the liver and nervous system. |
| Bharodawala was disqualified from being a company director for four years, and his company was fined £1,500. | |
| His brother, Abdul Kadar Bharodawala, 35, who ran the shop Jenny’s Online Ltd, was sentenced to 80 hours unpaid work at Inner London crown court, and the company was fined £500. | His brother, Abdul Kadar Bharodawala, 35, who ran the shop Jenny’s Online Ltd, was sentenced to 80 hours unpaid work at Inner London crown court, and the company was fined £500. |
| His charges related to the marketing of products containing hydroquinone and a failure to label them properly. | His charges related to the marketing of products containing hydroquinone and a failure to label them properly. |
| Freya Newbery, the judge sentencing the defendants, told them: “There’s no doubt that you knew what your obligations were as a distributor of cosmetics products and you should not have been marketing products which contained banned substances, especially hydroquinone. I’m quite satisfied you knew exactly what you were selling and sourced them for the people who wanted to buy them from you.” | |
| Citing research by Southwark council’s trading standards, she added: “It’s relevant that ... a desire for fairer skin is driven by deep-rooted complex and social, cultural and historical reasons. | Citing research by Southwark council’s trading standards, she added: “It’s relevant that ... a desire for fairer skin is driven by deep-rooted complex and social, cultural and historical reasons. |
| “Here, it seems to me that the marketing and sale of products you were engaged in exploits anxieties and sensitivities of women and men who are culturally and socially motivated to purchase those products which lighten their skin and risk causing damage in the process.” | “Here, it seems to me that the marketing and sale of products you were engaged in exploits anxieties and sensitivities of women and men who are culturally and socially motivated to purchase those products which lighten their skin and risk causing damage in the process.” |
| An inspection by Southwark council in January led to 260 items being seized from the shop floor and stockroom at Jenny’s Cosmetics in East Street, south-east London. | An inspection by Southwark council in January led to 260 items being seized from the shop floor and stockroom at Jenny’s Cosmetics in East Street, south-east London. |
| A test purchase of three products on eBay revealed similar products were also being sold by Jenny’s Online, run by Abdul. | |
| Of the items purchased online, a Grace Duo lightening cream was found to contain 17.6% hydroquinone after being sent for analysis. | Of the items purchased online, a Grace Duo lightening cream was found to contain 17.6% hydroquinone after being sent for analysis. |
| Some of the products seized also failed to display the names and addresses of a manufacturer, breaching EU regulations. | |
| Mohammed, of Heigham Road, east London, was previously handed a 12-month suspended sentence and £1,300 fine in November 2015 for similar offences. | |
| Prosecuting, Richard Heller said: “Mohammed would have been well aware of his obligation as a distributor of the product, having been prosecuted for similar offences. It is the Crown’s case that the products were intentionally sold in the knowledge that they should not be.” | |
| The court also heard how Mohammed had applied for an application to have his company struck off, and that he had recently changed the name of his shop to Jenny’s Hair and Wigs. | The court also heard how Mohammed had applied for an application to have his company struck off, and that he had recently changed the name of his shop to Jenny’s Hair and Wigs. |
| The majority of previous cases have resulted in financial penalties. Banaras Hussain, a shopkeeper, was fined and given a 15-week suspended sentence in February after he was found selling similar products at a cosmetics shop in Peckham, south-east London. His sentencing was also part of a crackdown by Southwark council, which Newbery praised as valuable. | |
| The Bharodawala brothers were also ordered to pay court costs. Mohammed is to serve half of his term in custody. | |
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