A Croydon off licence could lose its license after being caught stocking hundreds of unsafe  ‘10,000 puff’ vapes it bought from an “unknown door-to-door seller”.

Croydon Council could force the shop to change management after unsafe vapes were sold over the counter.

The New Addington shop owner was sentenced for breaking his license, despite receiving a warning for selling illegal goods the year before.

AM 2 PM’s owner, Vijay Komar, was convicted at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on March 25 for the possession of 671 unsafe vapes and made to pay costs to the tune of £7,075.

The vapes were seized following a raid at the shop at Central Parade, New Addington on April 18, 2023.

During the raid, Croydon Council’s Trading Standards Officers found vapes deemed unsafe for use.

They all exceeded the legal tank size but varied in strength from 1,500  to 10,000 puffs.

The majority of vapes were seized from the shelves in the store and from the stock room. Many of them were found in “bargain baskets,” with discount labels such as “sale £2.99 each 4 for £9.99” and “Sale £3.99 each 3 for £9.99.” 

At a licensing sub-committee meeting held today (July 24), Councillors heard how Mr Komar admitted he was unable to provide invoices for the vapes during his interview under caution.

He added that he had purchased them from an unknown door-to-door seller on a sale or return basis.

The committee also heard how the vapes were acknowledged to be ‘child appealing items’ due to the prevalence of sweet flavouring and bright colours on the product.

Flavours such as milk and cereal, fruit fusion, banana ice and mint Ribena were seized during the raid.

This was not the first time Mr Komar was caught stocking illegal wares at the New Addington shop.

The committee also heard how an initial seizure on May 11 2022 uncovered an even greater illicit haul than the one he was convicted for in the following year.

In that visit, officers seized 2811 similarly non-compliant vapes as well as 320 non-compliant toys, 493 counterfeit mobile phone covers and AirPods. On that occasion, Mr Komar was issued with a formal warning and given in-depth licensing law advice.

This also put Mr Komar’s shop on the list of shops to be monitored by Croydon Council as part of its wider crackdown on the sale of illegal vapes.

Earlier this year a shop in West Croydon was fined £2,588.09 after officers conducted a test purchasing operation which caught the shop owner selling vapes to an under-age volunteer. 

Mr Komar’s recent conviction for the raid in April meant Croydon Council were forced to review his licence to sell vapes.

Among the options available to the licensing committee was the removal of Komar as the shop’s designated premises supervisor (DPS).

This was the preferred option favoured by Croydon’s trading standards team.

In their report, Senior Fair Trading Officer Caroline Dawson told the committee:  “Mr Komar’s repeated actions indicate a complete and blatant disregard for the law. 

“The company, known as Waheguru International Ltd, for which he has sole responsibility has been convicted for consumer protection criminal offences. The responsible authority does not believe that the licensing objectives are being continually upheld at these premises and deems it both proportionate and necessary to invite the committee to consider a review of the premises license, to limit further criminal activity by this license holder and to act as a deterrent to other operators considering such illegal conduct.

“Therefore, the responsible authority recommends that Mr Vijay Komar be removed as designated premises supervisor (DPS) at the premises.”

Surendra Panchal, who represented Mr Komar, acknowledged his client’s mistakes and accepted the recommendation. He told the committee: “We will replace him with a DPS who is more responsible and full control of the shop.”

He added: “We have learnt a lesson and we will make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the future.”

He also reminded the committee that Mr Komar had no previous convictions and had not missed any of his fine payments.

In a statement made following the conviction of the aforementioned West Croydon shop in February, Croydon Mayor Jason Perry said:  “I would like to thank our trading standards team on their latest successful prosecution.

“Protecting our children and young people from the dangers of age-prohibited items means making Croydon a safer and healthier place for us all to live.

"We hope that our businesses will work with us to ensure they are fulfilling their legal duties to keep our residents safe, as we continue carrying out further enforcement activities.”

The sub-committee will make a decision on whether to agree with the recommendations within five working days.