Licence review for shop 'selling banned medicine'

The council heard the shop has previously sold illegal cigars and chewing tobacco

A new hearing has been set for a Wolverhampton shop owner accused of selling illegal vapes and banned medicine, "putting the public at risk".

Trading Standards said Gurmej Singh was found to be selling more than 200 illegal vapes, Indian erectile dysfunction tablets, tonnes of illicit chewing tobacco and hundreds of litres of untaxed beer, wine and spirits from his GSK Liquor store.

The council’s licensing sub-committee was due to meet last month to decide whether to revoke his licence but the hearing was postponed.

A new hearing is due to take place on 17 October.

Wolverhampton Trading Standards, HMRC, the Home Office and West Midlands Police searched the shop on Dudley Road in Blakenhall in July.

Hundreds of vapes and pills, beer with an equivalent volume of more than 8,000 pints, nearly 300 litres of wine, 60 litres of spirits and ten tonnes of chewing tobacco which had no proof of tax were confiscated, according to council documents.

They said the search also found banned tablets, labelled as herbal remedies, and "powerful stimulants" Multani Kaminividravana Rasa, which contain opioids such as codeine and morphine and other harmful substances and have been linked to addiction cases in Australia and are not regulated in the UK.

Mr Singh had already been given a written warning after being found to be selling illegal cigars and chewing tobacco during an inspection of his shop in March 2020.

A Trading Standards officer was twice told the shop “needed to make money somewhere” in a redacted report published by the council ahead of the licensing hearing.

Wolverhampton Trading Standards was informed again in 2022 that seven packets of cigarettes intended for sale outside the UK had been purchased from the shop alongside a number of illicit vapes, the report stated.

Two complaints were then made last year that the shop was selling illegal cigarettes and alcohol as well as high-strength vapes and tobacco to children but an underage volunteer was refused the vape during a later operation by officers, the council said.

The City of Wolverhampton Council had accused Mr Singh of “putting the public at risk” and repeatedly ignoring the law.

The authority was told Mr Singh was unwell and his solicitors had not been given enough time to prepare for the meeting with council officials, meaning the licence review would be heard later this month.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.