Bars fined £10k for ‘highly dangerous’ fake vodka

A bar owner has been hit with a £10,000 fine after pleading guilty to selling “highly dangerous” counterfeit vodka that was unfit for human consumption.

A bar owner has been fined £10,000 for selling “highly dangerous” counterfeit vodka

Sukhdev Singh Gill was managing The Coach and Horses pub and Chaplains in Consett, England, when police raided the premises last year.

Officers confiscated more than 3000 bottles of fake Kommissar and Crown vodka from the two bars, which were sent for testing.

The results revealed the liquid was from industrial alcohol, rather than grain alcohol, and contained t-butanol and isopropanol making it unsuitable for human consumption.

UV lamps also failed to reveal the authenticity stamps, proving the bottles were not genuine.

Gill pleaded guilty to two charges under the Food Safety Act, three of breaching Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations and three of unfair trading, under the Consumer Protection Act, at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court.

In addition to the fine, Gill was also ordered to pay £2,000 in costs and surcharges.

“We have a couple of chemists on the bench and we’re extremely concerned that the counterfeit vodka is extremely dangerous,” said David Shallow, chairing magistrate, as reported by Chronicle Live. “Some constituent parts are extremely toxic to humans.

“You hear of cases all the time of people drinking this stuff with very serious consequences – there has even been fatalities. We take this matter very seriously.”

Gill has since sold the bars but still managed three takeaways in North Tyneside.