Poundworld fined £166,000 for selling faulty chargers

Discount retailer Poundworld has been ordered to pay a £166,000 fine after selling thousands of faulty charger kits with forged safety test certificates.

More than 72,000 kits are known to have been sold in the UK.

But there is no evidence as to how many Poundworld has successfully recalled, Cwmbran Magistrates' Court was told.

Poundworld said it had since improved the business' product testing procedures.

The case was brought by Carmarthenshire council following test purchasing at a Llanelli store in spring 2015.

Poundworld Retail Ltd said it had returned 36,000 charger kits to the manufacturer and none remained on sale at its stores in the UK.

Together with costs, the group will have to pay a total of £190,000.

Judge Richard Williams said Poundworld failed to use due diligence in testing, and only paid "lip service" to procedures.

He said it was reasonable to presume a substantial number of the chargers were still in use, risking customers' safety.

Judge Williams said Poundworld failed to comply with electrical safety regulations, the adaptor did not have adequate insulation between circuits and it was not manufactured to protect against foreseeable hazards or overloads.

Loose wires also gave risk of fire or electric shock.

He also criticised Poundworld's failure to issue a "rapid alert", used to recall dangerous products across the European Union, and instead posted recall notices in its stores which the judge described as "tardy".

He said Poundworld has done almost nothing to mitigate the risk of harm it had created and the little it had done had the "appearance of being done grudgingly".

Poundworld claimed it had undertaken due diligence by testing the products at an independent laboratory in China.

It was later revealed the products had not been tested and the safety certificates provided by the laboratory were forged.

Poundworld said it had been the victim of fraud.

Following the case, a spokesman for Poundworld said the company prided itself on selling items of the highest quality and safety standards.

He apologised for any inconvenience caused, adding all customers who had bought the item had been offered a full refund

"Since this product was sourced, the company has hired a new trading director who has reviewed and improved the business' product testing procedures," he said.

"We are also working with our supplier to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future."