KILLER teddy bears sold by a north-east trader put children’s lives at risk, a court heard yesterday.
Suzanne Bond admitted selling the dangerous toys at a village hall craft fair – despite a warning from trading standards officers that they presented a choking hazard. The small bears had been dipped in a fragrant wax and their plastic packaging was not perforated, making them highly dangerous to small children.
Bond appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted selling the toys, despite having reason to believe they did not comply with safety regulations.
The 29-year-old mother-of-one sold the bears during a fair at Rathen Hall in early November 2012.
She was fined £300.
Last night, Aberdeenshire Council’s consumer protection officers welcomed the conviction and said they hoped it would act as a warning to others.
Procurator fiscal David Thorburn said the trading standards team had been tipped off about Bond’s stock by a member of the public.
“An officer contacted her by telephone about the toy bears and told her that they were a risk to children,” he said.
“The bears being sold by Miss Bond had been dipped in wax, which made them a choking hazard for young children, who were the target market for these toys.”
Despite the warning, he said, Bond went ahead and sold the bears at the village hall.
Mr Thorburn said council officers went to the sale and bought some of the bears in a test-purchase operation.
“They were submitted for tests,” he said. “Analysts confirmed that they were indeed a safety hazard.”
Aberdeenshire trading standards team seized the stock and officers interviewed Bond.
When asked why she was selling the bears, she replied: “I wanted to.”
Her agent, solicitor Sam Milligan, said that Bond, of 33 Allochy Road, Inverallochy, had never been in trouble with the law before.
“She was not au fait with these particular regulations and she has to accepted that she contravened them,” he said.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond told her: “You were warned by trading standards not to sell these products, but you carried on selling them regardless.
“By doing so, you put children at risk.”
Trading standards manager Wilma Urquhart said the waxed bears were a choking hazard, while the packaging could have caused suffocation.
“There was a bit of thought that it wasn’t a toy, but the labelling implied that it was,” she said.
Last night, an Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: “We are pleased this case has been resolved and we hope it acts as a deterrent to other individuals who plan on breaching trading standards legislation.”
In previous years, Bond has organised car cruises in Fraserburgh that have netted thousands of pounds for charities including the British Heart Foundation and the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (Chas).