A POOLE man was found to have a car load of counterfeit goods of well-known labels when stopped by police in the town.

Levi Dudley of Sterte Avenue, Poole pleaded guilty to 11 charges of trademark offences when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court.

He was prosecuted by Borough of Poole's trading standards team for possessing counterfeit goods with the intention to sell.

When he was stopped by police on Poole Quay, they found counterfeit goods bearing the trademarks of well known brands such as Adidas, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Barbour, Chanel and Gucci.

The case was investigated by trading standards officers who specialise in this type of criminal activity.

The court heard that Mr Dudley had purchased the counterfeit goods during three visits to a market in Hemel Hempstead for around £800. He had intended to give some of the goods as presents for his family and sell some to his friends, with the remainder being sold to members of the public.

The court also heard that the genuine retail prices of the items seized from Mr Dudley totalled approximately £13,500.

He was fined £550 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £55. The judge also made a forfeiture order of the seized items.

"Selling counterfeit goods at markets, on the street or via social media and auction websites is not uncommon," said James Norman, Regulatory Team Manager, Borough of Poole. "However, it is not a victimless crime."

"Unsuspecting customers are cheated as they believe they are buying the genuine article only to be disappointed and unable to obtain redress from the trader. Counterfeiting also damages the trademark of reputable companies and their good name.

"We will continue to target those individuals or traders who seek to deal in counterfeit goods and who brazenly exploit our community and undermine legitimate businesses."