Mr Johnston pleaded guilty to two charges under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, relating to the descriptions of the stones in the ring, and was fined £300 on each charge, and was also ordered to pay £22 court costs.
In January 2008, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Trading Standards Service received a complaint that Mr Johnston was falsely describing the stones in a ring that he was offering for sale.
Trading Standards Officers went to his trade premises, Archive Antiques, in Donegall Pass, Belfast, where Mr Johnston offered to sell them the ring, describing its stones as an emerald with two diamonds.
The officers seized the ring, which was examined by the Birmingham Assay Office. The assay report confirmed that the stones set in the ring were, in fact, one of green agate and two of cubic zirconium.
When interviewed by TSS, Mr Johnston stated that he had bought the ring at an antiques fair in England. He admitted that he had not checked the stones’ composition before offering the ring for sale in his store.
Nicholas Lane, Trading Standards Service said: “Retailers are under a duty to give an accurate description to any goods that they are selling. They must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the goods they sell are properly described. Consumers are entitled to get the correct information before they buy goods and to rely upon its accuracy.”
If consumers have a complaint regarding the descriptions of goods or require further advice, they should contact Consumerline on tel: 0845 600 6262 or tel: 028 9025 3900, or alternatively online
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Notes to Editors:
- The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 creates offences for applying false descriptions to goods and offering to supply such misdescribed goods. This legislation was replaced by the Consumer Protection form Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in May of this year.
- Birmingham Assay Office is the largest Assay Office in the World. Founded by Act of Parliament in 1773, the main function of the Assay Office is to test and hallmark precious metal items as required by the Hallmarking Act. In 2005, 12 million articles were hallmarked at the Birmingham Assay Office.
- All media enquiries to DETI Press Office: Tel. 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
