A MAN who sold illegal tobacco has been banned from both Worcester and Hereford after a Trading Standards investigation.

Tarik Abdullah Dosky was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court this month following the investigation by Herefordshire Council's Trading Standards Service into illegal tobacco sales in the region.

The 54 year-old, who has a history of selling illegal tobacco, pleaded guilty to nine offences at a previous hearing, which included selling counterfeit tobacco products to undercover Trading Standards Officers.

Judge James Burbidge QC handed Dosky a 10-month prison sentence suspended for two years, an exclusion order banning him from entering any part of Hereford and Worcester for two years, a four month curfew and ordered him to pay £250 costs.

Previously, in May this year, a separate Proceeds of Crime Act case, also led by Herefordshire Trading Standards, saw investigators recover £14,376 from Dosky’s bank accoun,t which had been frozen following confiscation proceedings.

Trading standards service manager David Hough said: "This case demonstrates the commitment by our enforcement officers in tackling illegal tobacco sellers in the county.

"Not only are the products sold often counterfeit and do not meet the safety standards required by law, but it is imperative that we help support local, legitimate businesses, in these uncertain times, by tackling the criminals."

Dosky was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on August 7 having been arrested in November 2019 during a Multi-Agency Targeted Enforcement Strategy (MATES) Operation led by Trading Standards, with West Mercia Police and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Service.