R v Kooner (Sukhbir Singh)

Date

13 March 2002

Legislation

Trade Marks Act 1994, s92

Keywords

criminal trade mark offences; sentencing; custodial threshold; prosecution costs

Counsel

J House for Kooner

Solicitors:

unknown

Judge:

Crane J, Henriques J

Court:

Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Reported:

[2002] EWCA Crim 696, otherwise unreported

Summary:

Kooner pleaded guilty to 12 counts of consenting or conniving in the commission of offences contrary to s92 Trade Marks Act 1994 by another. The other in question was his co-accused, Colourzone Design Limited, a company of which Kooner was company secretary and his wife the sole director. The company employed 16 to 18 workers and produced garments from a number of units in Leicester. A bag of computer disks was seized containing instructions for controlling the embroidery machines on the plant to embroider a number of registered trade marks onto the garments. Upon a further search of the premises employees were found to be completing work on Kangol marked garments which was a trade mark which had been involved in the original raid. Kooner was rearrested.

Kooner was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment and ordered to pay £5,020 towards the prosecution costs; the company was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £5,020 towards costs.

Kooner appealed against his sentence by leave of the single judge. Kooner submitted that the sentence of 2 years was too long in any event, a submission which was rejected by the Court of Appeal particularly in light of the repetition of the offence after the original raid. Kooner had submitted a written basis of plea which claimed that he had only started counterfeiting in order to offset the requirement to make some of his staff redundant and also argued before the Court of Appeal that the basis on which the judge sentenced him was wrong because it had not taken this written basis of plea into account and there was no Newton hearing held.

Decision

The Court of Appeal held that the sentencing remarks of the judge could be read as not having accepted the basis of plea and that he erred in this respect. Kooner's sentence was reduced to 18 months in total. The order for costs was also reduced to £2,000 on the basis of Kooner's means.