by DAVID BROWN

A door-to-door pornographic video dealer was exposed during an undercover operation by consumer watchdogs, Harrow magistrates heard.

Brent and Harrow Trading Standards officers ordered three films for £25 from a mobile phone number given in a newspaper advert. The films were delivered to a house in Harrow by Justin Garrett of Columbia Road, Shoreditch.

They were examined by the British Board of Film Classification which said they were all unclassified. If the videos had been submitted for classification they would have been refused certificates as any video featuring actual human sexual activity cannot be classified.

Garrett pleaded guilty to three charges of supplying unclassified videos in October last year and was fined £1,500 with £300 prosecution costs on Wednesday last week. In mitigation, the court was told he had started selling the videos after losing his job as a cab driver and he was a novice, not a professional.

After the hearing, trading standards director John Taylor said: "This case highlights the lengths to which some people will go to make profits out of illegal activities.

"Our investigations show that the sale of pornographic videos is often conducted through advertisements in newspapers and magazines using mobile phones.

"My advice to anyone involved in this type of activity is that trading standards officers continuously monitor such advertisements and we will bring prosecutions against offenders."

The maximum penalty for supplying an unclassified video films is a fine of £20,000 and two years in prison. Anyone with information can call trading standards, in confidence, on 0181 937 5555.

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