Richard Wright QC defends in two Trading Standards prosecutions at Bradford Crown Court

The first case involved charges of Conspiracy to defraud Trade Mark holders with a value of over £323,000.00 and involved counterfeit branded clothing of leading music artists such as the  Arctic Monkeys and Motorhead.

The prosecution was brought following a two year investigation which followed a tip off by private investigators.

The industrial scale screen printing operation facilitated the global distribution of the goods via eBay and Amazon and generated counterfeit sales of over £472,000.00 over a 5 year period.

Following Richard’s submissions his client received a suspended sentence and was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

The second case was again brought by West Yorkshire Trading Standards department  and related to the sale of car parts bearing the word ‘Audi’ within the product description which is contrary to section 92(1)(c) of the Trademarks Act 1994.

Analysis of the defendant’s eBay sales showed the value of sales of the products to be £268,000.

Following a plea of guilty Mr Wright made submissions which resulted in his client receiving a Community order with no penalty for the company and no disqualification for his client as a company director.

Richard Wright Q.C. is Head of Chambers and is described as a “masterful silk” in Chambers & Partners (2018), where he is ranked Band One for Crime. He is also ranked as Tier 1 in the Legal 500 (2018). Richard’s regulatory practice covers a wide range of cases including Consumer Protection, Food safety & hygiene, Environmental waste, Fire safety, Health & safety breaches, and cases relating to transport regulations.

He secured one of the first successful prosecutions in the country for offending related to the commercial sale of IPTV boxes involving the Copyright, Designs and patents Act 1088. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The Fraud Act 2006 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in Operation Jaculus on behalf of Hartlepool Borough Council.