14 August 2007

Sex Shop Owner Fined After Goods Seized

The owner of Belfast sex shop, Misstique, was today fined a total of £546 at Belfast Magistrates' Court for offences under the Video Recordings Act.

In a case brought by the Trading Standards Service of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Christopher Hallam, who trades as Misstique at 27 Gresham Street, Belfast, today pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Act.

On 19 June 2006, Trading Standards Officers visited the premises of Misstique as part of an exercise into the trading practices of the adult entertainment outlets, commonly referred to as sex shops, in the centre of Belfast.  

Over 300 DVDs and videos were seized, either because they were unclassified or were marked with an R18 classification.

DVDs and videos are required to be marked with a classification and those marked with an R18 classification can only be sold in a licensed sex shop. Mr Hallam was not in possession of such a license.   

The court also agreed to a forfeiture order in respect of the video tapes and DVDs, which had been seized.  

(SB/SP)