Laura Bagshaw A GREAT Yarmouth trader who sold counterfeit goods bought them in good faith hoping to make a profit at his failing shops, a court heard.

Laura Bagshaw

A GREAT Yarmouth trader who sold counterfeit goods bought them in good faith hoping to make a profit at his failing shops, a court heard.

Mohsen Pishbin, 48, admitted purchasing and selling counterfeit Harley Davidson goods including leather jackets, gloves and T-shirts at his rented Charm shops in Regent Road and Market Gates precinct last year.

Yarmouth Magistrates heard that Pishbin, from Kent, bought the items “in good faith” from a company in London for £4,293 and hoped to make a profit after business at his Yarmouth shops had been “very bad”.

However in August, after receiving a complaint, Norfolk County Council's trading-standards team visited the shop and found more than 300 items branded with the Harley Davidson logo to be counterfeit.

Prosecuting, Anthony Brzeczec said: “The goods he had been selling were mostly leather and aimed at bikers and some featured logos of motorbike manufacturers and motor-racing sponsors.”

He said when trading-standards officers visited the shop a second time, they seized hundreds of items including adult and child leather jackets, T-shirts, leather gloves and caps.

Samples were sent away to the registered-trademark owners including Harley Davidson, BMW, Suzuki and Yamaha, who confirmed the goods were counterfeit.

Mr Brzeczec said: “He admitted carrying the goods and said he did not make checks on the suppliers before buying them.

“He thought he was getting a good deal.”

Pishbin, a self-employed trader for 20 years, has been operating in Yarmouth for seven years and said he had never been in court before.

He told the court how he had been approached by someone offering the goods.

“The man said he needed to clear a warehouse, that is why the goods were sold cheaper.

“I looked at the goods and they looked very well made and with business being as it is on the seafront, I thought I could make a profit. Business has been very quiet.”

He said: “I did not realise there would be a trademark on these goods because I thought Harley Davidson made motorbikes, not clothes.”

Chairman of the bench Mike Ross said the court took a “very dim view” of counterfeit practice.

Pishbin was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay costs of £2,565.