Couple contest conviction over selling unsafe hand sanitiser during Covid

Directors of a Birmingham-based wholesaler have contested their conviction over supplying “unsafe” hand sanitiser during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the product supplied by Big Living Ltd was advertised to have 80 per cent alcohol, some containers allegedly had less than 30 per cent of the ingredient.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that the company produced the sanitiser by re-branding it under the trademark name Chemist Plus.

Big Living along with its directors and married couple Jeewan Sagu, 41 and Rajika, 36, and another business Desktop IT Ltd were convicted of four offences.

They included placing an unsafe product on the market and failures to adopt measures required under the General Product Safety Regulations.

However, the defendants’ lawyer Mohammed Latif had denied Sagu deliberately misled trading standards and said the shortcoming was due to “a combination of mismanagement, neglect and failure to focus on what was clearly an important aspect of the investigation”.

The sentencing was scheduled to take place Thursday (6) but the case has now been adjourned to August 7 next year for a four-day appeal hearing.

Prosecutor Mark Jackson said, "They were convicted at the magistrates' court but have appealed the conviction.

"However the defence made the representation to the court effectively submitting that the conviction appeal should take place before anyone is sentenced”, Jackson, who represented Birmingham City Council, said.

"It seems to us aside from our preference that it makes logical sense," Jackson said.