11 Oct 2012 – London Olympic flag seller given criminal record
This case illustrates what will happen to any unlicensed person trading in London if the current government policy formulation by BIS is implemented. Jay Mosedale, an architectural graduate, didn’t have a pedlars certificate and thought she had a common law right to trade some colourful flags during the olympics. She was found guilty of trading without a licence, fined £396 in Westminster Magistrates Court, and now finds she has a criminal record. No matter how BIS try to rewrite the exemption for pedlary from street trading regulation to allow pedlars to trade, the fact remains that even certified pedlars are already prosecuted for trading without a licence and with no Pedlars Act certificate they will have no protection in law.
Pedlars.info repeatedly warns BIS of the impact of this policy – read more
Daily Telegraph – Thursday 11 October 2012
Olympic flag seller given criminal record
An architecture graduate who illegally sold flags on the streets of London during the Olympic Games wept in court as she was convicted and given a criminal record.
Jay Mosedale, who recently finished studying architecture at the University of Westminster, was stopped by a council inspector in Whitehall, central London, during the games as she shouted: “Get your flags here – two pounds”.
Ms Mosedale was selling what were described in court as “assorted flags” after a friend of hers had started a business to coincide with the Games. She said that she had no idea that she needed a permit to sell things on the street.
Representing herself, Mr Mosedale said: “I thought it would be a fun way to get involved. I in no way knew I participated in illegal activity – it was simply from naivety.”
The graduate was approached by an inspector as she stood on a street corner in Whitehall at around 1.30pm on August 2, almost a week after the opening ceremony.
The 25-year-old admitted a single count of unlicensed street trading. She was ordered to pay a £45 fine, a £15 victim surcharge and £336 towards prosecution costs at Westminster Magistrates Court.
Passing sentence, District Judge William Tate said that he “took account of the way in which the offence occurred”. He also ordered Ms Mosedale to forfeit the flags.
After she was sentenced, Ms Mosedale raised her hand and asked if she now had a criminal record. The judge replied that she did and she left the courtroom in tears.
Street trading is illegal anywhere in London if the person involved does not have a licence.
During the Olympics, however, council inspectors, food safety agencies and the police were particularly vigilant in taking action against illegal trading and unlicensed use of Olympic logos.
It is unclear whether any of Ms Mosedale’s flags carried pictures of Olympic symbols or whether they were flags of different countries participating in the games.
In the spring, organiser LOCOG launched a crackdown on people who were using London 2012 or Olympic trademarks without permission.
The group went so far as to send legal letters to businesses that displayed the Olympic rings in their windows during the torch relay.
Firms that received the letters claimed that that they were only trying to show support for London 2012.
LOCOG had a car in the convoy of torch relay vehicles that was specifically looking for companies that were using Olympic signs and logos without permission.
The organisers justified the clampdown by saying that official sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Proctor & Gamble had spent millions of pounds in sponsorship fees to gain the right to use the London 2012 brand. It said it was therefore unfair that other people should use the trademarks without paying for them.
In April, the Metropolitan Police launched Operation Trafalgar, a six-month crackdown on illegal traders and pick-pockets in London’s West End in the run-up to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The operation, which the Met described as “a New York-style crackdown”, saw up to 400 extra police officers on patrol on the busiest nights of the week.
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