News

Initiative in place to curb the sale of fake goods on local social media groups

Published

2 years ago

December 12, 2023

EFFORTS to protect local consumers and small businesses from the harm caused by the growing trade in fake goods on local social media buying-and-selling groups are being boosted thanks to an important initiative.

The Real Deal Online programme is a national initiative that makes sure social media buying-and selling groups are not promoting the sale of counterfeit goods and other illicit products. It encourages closer working relationships between the groups and their local Trading Standards service.

During the run up to Christmas Trading Standards across Wales supported by the National Markets Group, Intellectual Property Office and National Trading Standards eCrime Team will be identifying buying-and-selling groups in Wales that are operating on social media. Contact will be made with administrators of the groups to make them aware of their legal responsibilities and to invite them to follow the Real Deal Online Code of Practice.

The Code of Practice requires group administrators to welcome officers of Trading Standards as members of the group and to agree to five simple steps:

1. To prohibit the sale of counterfeit and other illicit goods;

2. To act on information from IP rights owners and their representatives who highlight the sale of illegal goods;

3. To notify trading standards if they believe that illegal goods are being sold within the group and to exclude the sellers of these goods;

4. To highlight warnings and advice notices posted by trading standards;

5. To make sure that all members of the group are aware of its fake-free policy.

Selling groups that agree to follow the Real Deal Code of Practice will be allowed to display the Real Deal logo which will act as a visual assurance to shoppers and to traders that it is a fake-free shopping zone.

The new initiative is a natural extension of the Real Deal campaign which has been in place at physical markets and car boot fairs since 2009 and has seen over 500 markets across the UK sign-up to the voluntary Real Deal Charter to prevent the sale of fake goods. The campaign has been so successful that it has now been extended into the digital arena of online and social media marketplaces and is being rolled out by local authority Trading Standards Services across the UK.

It is vital that any illicit traders, who thinks they can make easy money by ripping off consumers with illegal, sub-standard, often dangerous counterfeits, are deterred at the earliest stage.

Judith Parry, Chair of Trading Standards Wales, said: “This programme demonstrates that Trading Standards are engaged in seeking out those who advertise fake goods on social media sites and will take appropriate action against them. Neither the internet nor social media offer an easy hiding place for those who attempt to trade illegally.

“Trading Standards services within Wales carry out excellent work to protect consumers and support traders. I hope that anyone running a buying-selling group across social media, will be motivated to engage in this project, and seek advice from Trading Standards to enable them to run their buying-selling group legally and responsibly.

“Adopting the Real Deal Code of Practice and displaying the logo provides reassurance for group members that it is a safe place to buy and sell. It also enables the administrator of a group to send a strong ‘keep out’ message to those seeking to use that group to sell counterfeit products and who clearly have no scruples about ripping off consumers, selling unsafe products or damaging local businesses.”

Gavin Terry, Chair of the National Markets Group for IP Protection, said: “Online and social media marketplaces are a growing phenomenon, offering many economic and social benefits. Just like markets and car boot fairs in the physical world, local buy-sell groups on social media platforms can provide great bargains and a friendly, lively environment for individuals to trade with each other. However, as online and social media marketplaces are not uniformly regulated, they can offer easy opportunities for those who wish to stay below the radar and trade illegally, particularly in counterfeits and copyright infringing products.

“When illicit traders move into a local selling group, a whole host of problems follow. Consumers are ripped off and sold inferior, potentially dangerous goods; revenue is lost from the economy to the black market; and often the trade in fakes is linked to the funding of organised crime.”

Mike Andrews, National Co-ordinator of the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, said: “Most shoppers and the administrators of buy-sell groups would be horrified to think that they may, unwittingly, be funding organised crime. And many administrators are not aware that, ultimately, they could be held responsible for allowing illegal products to be advertised by members of their group. The Real Deal Online programme is designed to help. It offers anyone running a local selling group the opportunity to work closely with participating Trading Standards Services who will help them to introduce procedures to deter illicit traders from joining the group and causing harm.”

Anyone running a buy-sell group in their area, who wishes to sign-up to the Real Deal Online Code of Practice, should contact their local Trading Standards Service.

More information on the Real Deal campaign is at www.realdealmarkets.co.uk

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

5 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

6 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.