Counterfeit market trader jailed for second time after failure to pay back nearly £30,000 of illegal profits

A man who traded counterfeit goods at a Wisbech market more than 10 years ago has been jailed for a further eight months after he failed to pay back almost £30,000 of his illicit profits.
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Barrie Wilton, 65, of Guanockgate Road, Sutton St Edmund, Lincolnshire, was initially sentenced to nine months imprisonment in 2007 after being convicted of counterfeit offences in relation to his trading at a Wisbech market, following an investigation by Cambridgeshire County Council.

In 2010, a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order was made against him for a total of £29,950. However Wilton only paid around half of this sum and therefore faced a confiscation enforcement hearing at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 13, where he was sentenced to a total of 261 days in prison.

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The hearing was brought about following a joint investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) and Cambridgeshire County Council.

Nick Bentley, Financial Investigation Manager for ERSOU’s Asset Confiscation Enforcement team, said: “When a defendant has a confiscation order made against them, the judge will attach a default period of imprisonment to be served if they fail to pay. Wilton had got away without repaying his ill-gotten gains for several years, so it is only right that the custodial sentence was activated.”

Peter Gell, Head of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Trading Standards, said: “Wilton was first investigated by us back in 2006 when he was caught selling counterfeit goods at a Sunday market in Wisbech. We’ve worked hard with the ERSOU Asset Confiscation Enforcement team to bring Wilton back to court following his failure to comply with the confiscation order.”