A DODGY ex-GP surgery manager was caught selling fake designer goods that included counterfeit Gucci, Prada, Ted Baker, Mulberry, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood gear.
Lisa Jane Bedding sold forged clothes, shoes, handbags, purses, make-up and watches to members of staff at the Llanyravon Surgery in Cwmbran which she ran.
The 62-year-old even kept some of her stock at the surgery and hosted parties at her Pontypool home to offer fraudulent goods to guests.
She was also trading on Facebook and profited by £75,000 from crime, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said: “An investigation into the defendant began after intelligence was received that she was selling counterfeit goods form the Llanyravon Surgery in Cwmbran.
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“She was the manager there and warrants were obtained to search the surgery and her home in December 2020.”
Trading standards officers found 24 fake Mulberry, Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors and Converse goods in two boxes stored in a room on the first floor of the surgery.
At Bedding’s home address they came across Ted Baker and Michael Kors handbags.
They also discovered that the defendant had sold counterfeit Gucci and Adidas gear on Facebook.
Mr Reynolds added: “The defendant would make regular trips to Manchester and Birmingham to buy counterfeit items and she said she had been at a warehouse when it was raided by the police.”
Bedding would use an internal messaging system at work, only supposed to be used for medical emergencies, to sell goods to her colleagues.
The defendant, of Cwmavon Road, Pontypool, pleaded guilty to 12 offences, 11 under the Trade Marks Act and one under the Fraud Act.
Heath Edwards representing Bedding said she was a woman of previous good character with no convictions to her name and had admitted the offences immediately at the magistrates’ court.
He told the court: “This was not sophisticated offending, for example she made no attempt to hide her identity on Facebook.”
Referring to character references on her behalf, he added: “She’s a hard-working, caring and trustworthy individual.
“She provides around the clock care for her mother who is 83.”
The judge, Recorder Aidan Eardley KC, jailed Bedding for 10 months but suspended the sentence for two years.
He told her he wasn’t sending her to prison because she had been assessed by the probation service as posing “no risk to the public at all”.
Recorder Eardley added: “You have a realistic prospect of being rehabilitated.”
Bedding was made the subject of a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
She must pay back the £75,000 she made to the authorities within three months or face nine months in jail.
The defendant must also pay £12,000 prosecution costs.
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