A WOMAN who said she feared being kidnapped by drug dealers if she did not raise £30,000 has been cleared of selling counterfeit goods.
Dawn Frost, 51, of Easby Grove, Thornaby, near Stockton, denied 12 counts of selling counterfeit shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts and trainers and two copyright offences for selling two designs of Nike T-shirt.
During her trial at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the 51-year-old admitted selling products from her house after she bought them from shops in Manchester.
But she denied knowing they were counterfeit and said she thought she was doing nothing wrong because she had seen similar goods being sold at local markets.
Magistrates agreed and acquitted her on all counts.
The court heard how Mrs Frost started selling the goods when she received threats from drug dealers wanting money they said they were owed by her daughter.
Mrs Frost said she wanted to pay the money before her daughter, who was serving time in a prison in Manchester for drug offences, was released.
She started buying items for her friends shortly after Christmas 2007, but quickly started to get requests from other people.
Soon she had up to 30 customers visiting her house some days, and was selling products for a small profit.
Stockton Borough Council’s trading standards team sent Mrs Frost a letter warning her they believed she was selling counterfeit goods.
The court was told that on her next visit to Manchester, she asked the shop owners if that was true, but they denied it, so she continued to buy goods.
Magistrates heard how the council confiscated more than 400 counterfeit items when they raided her home last year.
Mrs Frost said: “After I received the letter, I went down and asked each individual shop owner how they could afford to sell things so cheap.
“They told me it was end of the line and surplus stock and not counterfeit.
“These shops are still open now. I offered to go down to Manchester with trading standards to show them.”
Simon Walker, defending, said: “This is a 51-year-old lady who has never been in trouble in her life.
“She has not committed a criminal offence. She may have been duped, but this has been entirely innocent.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here