Couple fined for selling fake honey

A couple who bought cheap imported honey and sold it to shopkeepers claiming it was made in Norfolk were fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £90,000 costs.

William Baker, 59, and his wife Lynn, 55, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, carried out a "deliberate and dishonest scam" by using honey from countries such as Argentina and China in their product, a court heard.

They were found guilty of 12 counts of obtaining property by deception following a trial at King's Lynn Crown Court, Norfolk, in December last year. Further charges of making a false description of food were ordered to lie on file.

Sentencing the couple at Norwich Crown Court yesterday, Judge Alasdair Darroch said: "This was a lengthy and persistent deception involving a number of innocent traders who were selling honey which was not of the quality demanded. I have no doubt that this was an entirely dishonest activity, although there was some legitimate honey production."

During the trial, the court heard that the Bakers supplied customers with 17.7 tons of the falsely named product between January 2001 and September 2003.

The jars with the label, Norfolk honey, were then sold bybusinesses across the country.