A father and son who admitted displaying false trade marks on mattresses and misleading signage on the son’s van have been ordered to pay a total of £3,520 by magistrates after they were prosecuted by Enfield Council.
At a hearing on 17 March 2016 at 
Tottenham Magistrates’ Court, Fred Stanley, 56, of The Paddocks, St Albans, pleaded guilty to displaying the “Dreams” trade mark on mattresses contrary to the Trade Marks Act 1994. His son, Elias Stanley, 30, of Meadow Lane Caravan Park, Bedford, pleaded guilty to one offence contrary to the Trade Marks Act 1994 and an offence contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 of displaying misleading signage.
Magistrates sentenced Fred Stanley to pay a fine of £1,660 plus a victim surcharge of £20 and Elias Stanley to pay a fine of £1,820 plus a victim surcharge of £20. They also ordered that the 21 mattresses seized by the police be forfeited under s97 of the Trade Marks Act 1994.
The court heard that on 8 January 2015 an officer from Enfield Council’s Trading Standards team was called to Edmonton Police Station to view some possibly counterfeit mattresses found in the possession of Elias Stanley.
Elias and his father Fred were arrested and their vans, which contained the 21 mattresses, were examined. All the mattresses and Elias’s van were marked with the ‘Dreams’ logo.
Further investigation revealed the mattresses were counterfeit, and the ‘Dreams’ logo should not have appeared on either the van, or the mattresses, which were being sold door to door.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Daniel Anderson, said: “I was very pleased to hear about this successful case brought by our Trading Standards team.
“Displaying well known logos to advertise counterfeit goods is not only misleading but is also a criminal offence. People will see a brand name and rightly assume that if a product bears this name it will be of a certain quality and standard.
“The Stanleys’ led their customers into believing that they were buying genuine ‘Dreams’ mattresses when, in reality, they were instead purchasing cheap fakes.
“Bluntly speaking, this father and son team have made their own beds – now they must lie in them!”