Traders fined for selling pornographic videos

Two Belfast video shop owners have received custodial sentences from Belfast’s Magistrates Court of six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for breaches of the Video Recordings Act 1984.

The offences related to the supply of video works, which had not been approved by the British Board of Film Classification. The tapes seized were of an explicit pornographic nature.

The video shops, both located in Gresham Street, Belfast, are ‘Gresham Tapes’ run by Kenneth Leslie, and ‘Misbehavin’ run by Patrick McCaffery.

In addition to the suspended custodial sentences, Mr Leslie and Mr McCaffery were fined a total of £3,000 and £3,300 respectively.

Officers of Trading Standards Service seized nearly 300 video cassettes from ‘Gresham Tapes’ and just under 500 video works on cassettes and DVDs from ‘Misbehavin’.

In addition to the sentences the Resident Magistrate imposed a fine of £300 on each specimen charge. A specimen charge allows a magistrate to take other similar offences committed by the defendant into consideration when setting a penalty.

The maximum penalty for an offence under the Video Recordings Act 1984 is fine of up to £20,000 or a six-month prison sentence. (MB)