West Dorset: Unsafe fake saws warning (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

West Dorset: Unsafe fake saws warning

10:15am Thursday 4th February 2010

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TRADING standards officers are warning of potentially dangerous counterfeit chainsaws.

Officers urge anyone who has bought fake Stihl tools from a rogue salesman to not use them as they may be a safety hazard.

Carmine Paolillo, 36, of Naples, Italy, pleaded guilty under the Trade Marks Act to possessing with a view to sell, eight counterfeit Stihl chainsaws after being caught near Charmouth.

He was fined £550 by Weymouth magistrates, with £50 costs and a forfeiture order was made for the eight chainsaws. The court heard how Paolillo was stopped by traffic police who found the goods in the boot of his car.

Trading standards officers said Paolillo was operating in West Dorset and had been targeting large houses with lots of trees.

The court heard that police had received complaints the previous day of someone knocking on doors trying to sell chainsaws.

Trading standards identified them as counterfeit.

Experts said they were considered unsafe as each had a trigger lock and they would continue to operate if dropped.

When interviewed by trading standards officers, Paolillo said that he was a clothes salesman who had sold chainsaws in the past.

On January 22 – after arriving from Italy – he said he swapped a number of suits and jackets with a contact in Birmingham for 16 chainsaws. He said he had sold eight so far. He said he was aware they were counterfeit but claimed never to described them as Stihl. He sold them for £100 each.

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