DODGY cigarettes that were being sold in Hereford will be destroyed after the man selling them was caught.

Hadi Waleedzada appeared in Hereford Magistrates' Court charged with supplying a tobacco product with a unit pack not carrying a combined warning, and with selling goods with packaging bearing a sign likely to mistaken for a registered trade mark.

He sold 12 fake packets of Richmond cigarettes and two fake packets of Marlboro cigarettes between January and March in 2021.

The cigarettes had packaging resembling Richmond and Marlboro, but did not carry health warnings with written and pictorial messages.

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The cigarettes were seized and ordered to be destroyed, after he was caught by Herefordshire Council.

Waleedzada, a 43-year-old from Sidwell Street in Liverpool, originally pleaded not guilty to the charges, later changing his plea to guilty.

Waleedzada was given a 12-month conditional discharge, and must pay court costs of £1,350 as well as a victim surcharge of £22. Magistrates said they had taken his guilty plea into account.