A family from Waltham Forest who produced fake DVDs have been convicted. (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

While it is good to see some progress on this, I do note that this has not turned off the supply of these items on Walthamstow High Street and in other parts of the borough at all and ended the activities of the DVD and smuggled cigarette gangs.

A very positive result. Well done to the officers involved.

I'd be interested to know exactly what they were convicted of. Were they convicted using the controversial extreme **** laws recently passed, or existing couterfeiting and trademark laws?

Interesting that the article can use words that are blocked in the comments.

dvds , ciggarettes? shouldn't you be worrying more about guns,knives,robberie
s and sexual assaults or am i totaly missing the point

help of his brother Rafi and father Khalid.

I wondered what had happened to Mr. Khalid.

Thanks for the updated conviction info.

You would understand the point if trying to do business on the High Street. The highly visible presence of these (and other) gangs is a daily advert to anyone who cares to take advantage of it that the police have lost control of the main public areas in Walthamstow and that organised criminality can be carried on with impunity. Not surpisingly, this is a factor in investment (and hence employment) decisions people make in the Walthamstow area.

Techno2 wrote:
You would understand the point if trying to do business on the High Street. The highly visible presence of these (and other) gangs is a daily advert to anyone who cares to take advantage of it that the police have lost control of the main public areas in Walthamstow and that organised criminality can be carried on with impunity. Not surpisingly, this is a factor in investment (and hence employment) decisions people make in the Walthamstow area.

read what you wrote again and tell me if it makes sense

spacefan09 wrote:

Techno2 wrote: You would understand the point if trying to do business on the High Street. The highly visible presence of these (and other) gangs is a daily advert to anyone who cares to take advantage of it that the police have lost control of the main public areas in Walthamstow and that organised criminality can be carried on with impunity. Not surpisingly, this is a factor in investment (and hence employment) decisions people make in the Walthamstow area.

read what you wrote again and tell me if it makes sense

Crime is bad for business and jobs. Failure to deal with it gets noticed - by criminals and investors. More crime is encuoraged. Investors leave the area. Leave the gangs to take over the streets and the economy suffers. Unemployment therefroe rises. Sorry if my long sentences are difficult for you, but it makes sense to me.

Spacefan09, I'm not sure what you didn't understand. But to summarise Techno2's comments, which are true:

Criminals are selling illegal goods openly on the High Street. This makes it look as if the area is run by criminals. This, in turn, frightens off people who might have opened shops (or done other legitimate business) in the area. By bringing the local economy down, this puts local people out of work.

Seeing criminals openly operating also makes this a less welcoming place to live or shop.

I would add that it's not a question of 'nice' DVD-sellers instead of 'nasty' violent criminals. As the article said, the DVDs were produced by slave labour. Organised crime (including this) is at the heart of the drug trade, which fuels violent crime.

Techno2 wrote:

spacefan09 wrote:

Techno2 wrote: You would understand the point if trying to do business on the High Street. The highly visible presence of these (and other) gangs is a daily advert to anyone who cares to take advantage of it that the police have lost control of the main public areas in Walthamstow and that organised criminality can be carried on with impunity. Not surpisingly, this is a factor in investment (and hence employment) decisions people make in the Walthamstow area.

read what you wrote again and tell me if it makes sense

Crime is bad for business and jobs. Failure to deal with it gets noticed - by criminals and investors. More crime is encuoraged. Investors leave the area. Leave the gangs to take over the streets and the economy suffers. Unemployment therefroe rises. Sorry if my long sentences are difficult for you, but it makes sense to me.

no problem. even though you could have just wrote that in the first place.
and i think what you just said is more of an opinion than a fact,even though you probably don't see it most investors are "probably" involved in crime themselves

Walthamster wrote:
Spacefan09, I'm not sure what you didn't understand. But to summarise Techno2's comments, which are true:

Criminals are selling illegal goods openly on the High Street. This makes it look as if the area is run by criminals. This, in turn, frightens off people who might have opened shops (or done other legitimate business) in the area. By bringing the local economy down, this puts local people out of work.

Seeing criminals openly operating also makes this a less welcoming place to live or shop.

I would add that it's not a question of 'nice' DVD-sellers instead of 'nasty' violent criminals. As the article said, the DVDs were produced by slave labour. Organised crime (including this) is at the heart of the drug trade, which fuels violent crime.

yes that is true ..even though it doesn't make it right can you not see this country is basically run on crime.fraud for one (mps expenses)
?
you need to start at the top for things to change

I am incensed every time I go into the High St and see the Market Inspectors walk by the dvd sellers and ignore them. They told me they cannot do anything as the dvd sellers soon re-appear after being chased off!
Pathetic! And merely giving asbos shows how weak our immigration service is. I would round up all illegals and put them all on the next flight back to their home country without leave to appeal.

Spacefan09: I agree we need change at the top. But that's not where it has to start.

MPs' expenses annoy me, but they don't directly make my everyday life more dangerous or difficult.

Local crime does affect my everyday life. And when everyone sees the police ignoring open crime, it encourages worse criminals including street robbers.

I personally know the family. They were wholesalers of blank CDs and DVDs, key suppliers to the whole of UK. They did not deal with any fake goods. They had been investigated by the FACT since 2005. FACT and the Metropolitan police spent over 4 million pounds on the case. They did not find anything illegal, however during this time raided 4 chinese premises with illegal goods. These chinese had no connection with the family. They may have been customers buying legal blank media.

The FACT linked the chinese members and family together and made them guilty in order to claim back the money they had lost. Police officer do do a good job, but here they have shown how low they can stoop by placing two very intelligent young entrepreneurs into prison for something they have not done.

The chinese man found guilty admitted not being involved with the family, but only went to their shop to purchase blank media. How could someone be jailed for having a good business?

It is like selling cutlery (eg knife) in good intention and being resposible for the murder which the knife was used for. How can you tell someone is buying things for illegal purpose?

I wonder who is pulling the strings.

We should have pictures of all the detectives involved up there, not of ppl who havent commited any crime other than hard work.

Ridiculous.

WOW! I sat outside a cafe in the High St. today and did not see one dvd seller where normally there are at least 4 at work. Only the gang leader, easily recognised as the organiser, but never selling, walked past.
What a refreshing change -or were they just having a day off?

Javed Nagini wrote:
I personally know the family. They were wholesalers of blank CDs and DVDs, key suppliers to the whole of UK. They did not deal with any fake goods. They had been investigated by the FACT since 2005. FACT and the Metropolitan police spent over 4 million pounds on the case. They did not find anything illegal, however during this time raided 4 chinese premises with illegal goods. These chinese had no connection with the family. They may have been customers buying legal blank media.

The FACT linked the chinese members and family together and made them guilty in order to claim back the money they had lost. Police officer do do a good job, but here they have shown how low they can stoop by placing two very intelligent young entrepreneurs into prison for something they have not done.

The chinese man found guilty admitted not being involved with the family, but only went to their shop to purchase blank media. How could someone be jailed for having a good business?

It is like selling cutlery (eg knife) in good intention and being resposible for the murder which the knife was used for. How can you tell someone is buying things for illegal purpose?

I wonder who is pulling the strings.

We should have pictures of all the detectives involved up there, not of ppl who havent commited any crime other than hard work.

Ridiculous.

Being good Muslims they would tell you that wouldn't they?

'Javed Nagini, Manchester says...
4:54pm Fri 10 Jul 09
I personally know the family..'

Presumably you said all this in court, Javed: how did the jury take it?

Silversurfer wrote:
WOW! I sat outside a cafe in the High St. today and did not see one dvd seller where normally there are at least 4 at work. Only the gang leader, easily recognised as the organiser, but never selling, walked past. What a refreshing change -or were they just having a day off?

Maybe they were on a break. I spotted two of them, one of the women and a tall lad, who seems to onl have been on dvd duty for the last few weeks.

I was not a witness. Taking notes down from both sides.

It would have been good if more people attended this trial instead of listening to things advertised. So you could have a true say, not just believe what you read.

I was there on behalf of the prosecution but got to know the family and the judge himself admitted that the two seperate cases were put into one. But at the end of the day it is what the jury decides, not what the judge decides.

The only evidence found was a list of films all in chinese, and the sons did not write this, because they are not chinese.

Being Muslim has nothing to do with this, so it is good if you put racial comments aside. But however it might have been the reason they got convicted, as there were a majority of white jurys.

I was only putting forward the true side of the story, but it is your opinion to beleive the lies the police have spread so they are not seen negatively for spending so much money and not getting anywhere.

Yes, I spoke too soon!
Yesterday, Saturday,
I saw the gang leader walking down the market while 2 of his team were carrying their bags of dvd's in sight of the market inspectors!
The female market inspector was sitting at stall too busy discussing what colour to dye her hair next to take any notice.

After all the broohaha that action would be taken against the illegal DVD sellers at ASDA in Leyton Mills (according to the Lib Dems), surprise, surprise they are still there because the police do not start their shift until 10.30am. What a joke, people are lining up for the stuff.

I was there on behalf of the prosecution but got to know the family

You are luck that you have not been done for contempt of court for ruining the trial.

HAHA, shame on those who try to make money illegally. I knew it all along that these people could not be making a lot of money from that DVD shop in Leytonstone, Blanks are cheaper from the internet even with the dellivery included.