Business information

Bovingdon Market traders face £200,000 bill

A couple were ordered to repay £200,000 of illegal earnings from producing and selling counterfeit films, music and software at Bovingdon market.

Husband and wife market traders Alan, 48, and Karen Birmingham, 49, of Castle Road, Bedford, both benefited by £100,000 from their illegal activities, St Albans Crown Court ruled on Tuesday (March 18).

The court confiscated that amount of money and granted the Birminghams six months to pay as it would entail selling the family home.

“This has been part of a long and complex case associated with prolonged illegal activities at Bovingdon Market and we hope that this action will further emphasise the seriousness of the offences,” said County Councillor Richard Smith, Executive Member for Community Safety.

“Not only do dealers in counterfeit goods face substantial penalties including imprisonment, but they can also have their entire turnover taken away from them.

“Once again, we would like to urge consumers to help combat this illegal trade simply by buying only from reputable outlets and querying branded products which seem unrealistically cheap.

"Similarly, we would remind traders that they are obliged to verify the authenticity of any goods before they purchase them to sell on. The sale of counterfeit goods is known to be linked to more serious and organised crime and, as we have said on many previous occasions, we are simply not going to tolerate it in Hertfordshire."

Alan Birmingham was previously sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for the offences, brought jointly by Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Trading Standards with assistance from police forces in both counties, the Assets Recovery Agency, FACT and the BPI.

The offences involved illegal trading at Bovingdon, and stocks of counterfeit goods found at their Bedfordshire home along with a mini duplicating factory. The Asset Recovery Agency then launched proceedings to recover the illegal money the couple had made.