June 17, 2021 9.31 am This story is over 33 months old

Illegal cigarette seller in Boston gets suspended sentence and closes shop

He has shut down the shop
Some 5,000 illegal cigarettes were found hidden away at Tauras LT store in Boston. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council
By Local Democracy Reporter

A Boston shop owner has closed his doors and been given a suspended prison sentence for selling counterfeit cigarettes.

Timurs Olehnovics and his Tauras LT Ltd store on West Street, Boston were subject to a Lincolnshire Trading Standards investigation on February 18 last year.

Officers found 1kg of hand-rolling tobacco and over 5,000 illicit cigarettes that were hidden in the kitchen area at the back of the shop.

Lincolnshire Trading Standards seized around 5,000 illicit cigarettes. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council

The owner admitted to selling them for around a month, saying he knew he shouldn’t have done it but needed the extra cash.

As well as this, he admitted to hiding the products in an attempt to keep them away from police and investigators.

The cigarettes were hidden away in the kitchen area. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council

Timurs Olehnovics, 34, of King Street, Boston, was given a 26-week prison sentence suspended for two years, as well as being fined £1,318.73.

Mr Olehnovics was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community, and has since closed his store.

The owner has now closed his shop as a result. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council

Alan Griffin from Lincolnshire Trading Standards said: “Mr Olehnovics was well aware that what he was doing was wrong, and the products he was peddling were dangerous. 

“This latest prosecution is further evidence that Lincolnshire Trading Standards is serious about tackling illicit tobacco in the county.

“The sale of these products attracts other anti-social behaviour and criminality, and any information residents have about counterfeit and illegal cigarettes can help us stub it out.”