A MERRY Hill trader who sold dodgy mobile phone covers bearing top brand logos copped a whopping court bill.

Baldev Degun sold covers from his Planet Mobile kiosk which included badges from Premier League football clubs and companies like Adidas and Gucci.

Investigators found the cases were fake and at Wolverhampton Crown Court the 47-year-old was ordered to pay £10,152, which was the profit from the cases, plus £4,506 in costs. He was also told to forfeit 1,365 fake items seized from the kiosk and instructed to carry out 60 hours unpaid work in the community.

Judge Peter Barrie told him "This was trading without honesty” and added members of the public were often attracted to a brand because they felt loyalty to the football club or the company and the reputations of those companies could be damaged by the unlawful use of their trademarks.

Degun, of Salisbury Road, Moseley, admitted one charge of offering for sale a phone cover bearing a counterfeit trademark and sixteen charges relating to the possession of fake items.

Kristin Montgomery QC, for Degun, said her client’s principle focus was the evolution of his business and stressed the episode regarding the counterfeit goods was isolated.

She told the court that Degun had carried out a wholesale review of his business practices regarding purchases - an employee having bought the counterfeit stock from a cold caller.

Miss Montgomery said: "Since what happened he has taken steps in every aspect of his business to ensure there is no repetition of the offending.”

The court was told that in his basis of plea Degun, the sole director of Planet Mobile, maintained it had not been realised at the time the goods were counterfeit and cash had been paid to a representative from the firm who called at his kiosk. The cases had been sold for between £8 and £15 and the seized items made up about 20 per cent of his stock.