The public has been warned about the danger of counterfeit costumes in the run-up to Halloween following a number of high-profile arrests and trading standards raids which have taken place throughout the UK over recent months.
Most recently, officers from a specialist unit swooped on four addresses in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester – often hailed as the counterfeit capital of the UK. During the raid, the specialist police unit, which works across the country to protect UK industries from intellectual property crime, recovered hundreds of fake fancy dress costumes which could pose a public safety risk due to a lack of proper (or any!) testing.
Three people were arrested during the operation, which also involved fancy dress manufacturers Rubie’s Masquerade, after the company contacted the authorities and sparked the investigation.
“Counterfeit fancy dress clothing is not subjected to the same rigorous testing as genuine items and therefore poses a public safety risk to consumers,” said a police spokesman. “The risks involve suffocation, poisoning from untested dyes and colourings and strangulation due to the lack of appropriate fastenings.”
Back in August, Amir Liaquat – owner of Walthamstow’s Fancy Dress Mart – was fined £6,000 after he pleaded guilty to offences under the Trademarks Act for supplying costumes and accessories. Trading Standards investigations found Amir with counterfeit superhero costumes in September of last year. He was also selling the fake costumes on Amazon.
Cardiff-based Andreas Lazarou was also found in possession of more than 1,500 illegal items including unsafe children’s costumes back in October 2016. The charges stemmed from a tip-off that his shop, Ialpha World, was selling counterfeit children’s fancy dress outfits.
Andreas claimed that he ‘did not know what he was getting himself into’ and that the offences were a result of complete naivety after he purchased the gods online, believing they were legitimate.
