Director of Leeds vape shop Diamond Vapes UK fined £2k after 14-year-old boy sold oversized vape

Sheraz Ahmed, director of Diamond Vapes UK Ltd on The Headrow, appeared at Kirklees Magistrates Court on June 23. West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service launched an investigation after it received multiple complaints about the shop allegedly selling vapes to children.

In October 2022, a 14-year-old volunteer entered the shop, under the supervision of a Trading Standards Officer, and asked to buy a vape. Shop worker Shaheer Muhammed, of Bradford, sold an eLux Cotton Candy 3,500 puffs electronic cigarette to the volunteer for £10, without asking for any identification, or challenging his age.

It is a crime to sell electronic cigarettes containing nicotine to a person under the age of 18. It is also an offence to sell a disposable electronic cigarette that has a tank size of more than 2ml – around 600 puffs per vape.

Muhammed pleaded guilty to committing an offence under the Children and Families Act 2014 and was fined £100. He was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £40 and pay costs of £344.62.

As the director of the business, Ahmed was interviewed later. In his mitigation he stated that he was not aware of the maximum volume permitted for disposable electronic cigarettes and was abroad at the time of the test purchase.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to the company committing offences under the Children and Families Act 2014 and The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. He was fined £3,000, reduced to £2,000 for his guilty plea. He was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £800 and pay costs of £3,000.

Trading Standards manager David Strover, of the business services team, said: “The flagrant sale of vapes to children just should not be happening within our communities. We wrote to this business to make them aware of complaints we had received and informed them a test purchase may follow.

"The health risks associated with juvenile use of vapes should not be underestimated. Vapes are an adult product suitable for ex-smokers – the sale to, and use by, children is not acceptable. Shops need to ensure they have systems in place to avoid selling vapes to minors and train their staff accordingly.

"I would like to thank all the partners and members of the public for reporting illegal sales and encourage everyone to continue doing so to reduce the harm caused by tobacco and vapes in our communities.”

Councillor Pauleen Grahame, member of the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee which oversees the work of Trading Standards, said “It is clearly irresponsible not to check the age of teenage customers wanting to purchase age restricted goods. Test purchases are undertaken regularly by trading standards staff to ensure shops adhere to the law on vapes, tobacco and alcohol sales. The simple task of asking for identification and verifying the age of younger customers will help to reduce underage vaping and tobacco use.”

Consumers wishing to report illegal trading practices, including the sale of age restricted goods to children can call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 to report their concerns - this can be done anonymously.