Episode 8 Fake Britain


Episode 8

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Transcript


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Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems.

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Welcome to Fake Britain.

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Police!

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Get down! Get down! On the floor now!

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Put your hands behind your back now!

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Here at the Fake Britain house

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we will reveal the fakes that are flooding the market,

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conning people like you and me, and making money for the criminals.

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We will investigate the fraudsters who are selling us

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something that isn't real and could be dangerous.

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And we'll help you avoid falling for a fake.

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Today on Fake Britain we reveal the trade in fire blankets

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whose safety claims go up in smoke.

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Clearly that hasn't worked.

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We pay an unwelcome visit to the suspects thought to be running

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counterfeit operations at their own homes.

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I'd describe this as, like, a little shop.

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Everything that's for sale on the fake market,

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represented in this one room.

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And we expose the fake tattoo inks

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that could mean clients get a lethal injection.

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This could potentially cause something fatal

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such as a heart attack.

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It is happening all over the country.

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More than four million of us are now cutting out the daily commute

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and working from the comfort of our own homes.

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People running all sorts of home-based businesses, trades

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and professions could be your neighbours.

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You might not even know a business was there.

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And never one to miss a trick, the fakers are getting in on the act, too,

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running their counterfeit empires from behind their own four walls.

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So, do you know what is going on next door?

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Right across Britain an ever-increasing number

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of stay-at-home fakers are setting up shop

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behind the doors of ordinary domestic premises.

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For Trading Standards officer Chris Jones this emerging trend

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means changing tactics

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to take the fight to the fakers on their home turf.

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Today he is in Bedfordshire

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and en route to a suspected stay-at-home faker

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he has heard has been running an open house.

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From our own intelligence today it appears that there is a garage

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at the rear of the house full of Ugg boots

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and some of those headphones,

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so it should be quite a lot of stuff today.

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He is believed to have duped customers with his counterfeit goods

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and they have shopped him to Trading Standards.

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-Mr

-BLEEP?

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I am from Trading Standards,

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we have a warrant to search your premises for fake items.

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The suspect leads Chris to his garage, housing not his car,

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but what appears to be a counterfeit stash.

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Wow.

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Welcome to the latest store, just off the high street,

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where everything seems to be a fake.

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I would describe this as, like, a little shop.

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Everything is on display.

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We even had carrier bags to take the stock away,

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and all the stock was displayed in the varying brand areas.

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So we have watches go with watches, electrical goods together,

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and clothing in another section of the shop.

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So it is like a corner store for fake items.

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All these watches are Michael Kors watches.

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Well done, jewelled, all working.

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In fact his collection is so extensive

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some of it is even new on Chris.

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I've never heard of this Michael Kors hat,

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and never heard of the Ugg hat.

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So it will be interesting what the brand owner comes up with.

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To be honest with you I didn't know

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that brand made that particular product.

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Like any shopkeeper the faker has not only got the latest gear,

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he is also on hand to answer questions.

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-Are you able to tell me how much you would charge for that?

-How much?

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-Yeah.

-25.

-OK, thanks for that.

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This Ralph Lauren and SuperDry stuff, and take that row, right?

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As it is, it is easier if we do that.

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The faker is even willing to throw in free extra.

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-You can have the hangers.

-You sure?

-Yeah.

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The suspect might be trying to make light of the situation

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but the evidence against him seems overwhelming.

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The van is going to be full.

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We're on about something like, I think, Exhibit 25,

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of these big bags of varying products.

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Never had so many different ones at all, like this. A bit of everything.

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Virtually a current what's for sale on the fake market

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is represented in this one room.

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It is not just clothes on sale

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but also suspected counterfeit electrical goods.

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This is a radio mic.

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Very popular with young people at the moment.

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And actually, to buy the real, non-fake product, very expensive.

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But cheap counterfeits often don't meet British standards

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and could pose a danger to the public.

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Eventually two vehicles are crammed full of confiscated goods

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which will be analysed back at base.

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And Trading Standards has proved that selling from home

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rather than on the high street

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does not offer suspected fakers a safe place to hide.

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This chap is like a general shop in any high street in a town.

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So he has been making good money out of it.

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They have lost a lot of money today, because his stock has gone.

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Whilst some criminals are selling fakes from their homes,

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others are going one step further and making the fakes to sell on.

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200 miles west,

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Rhys Harries from Swansea Trading Standards

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is finding that good old British manufacturing is thriving -

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amongst the fakers, at least.

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What we are finding now is that people are moving away

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from selling counterfeit goods at markets,

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or from the back of white vans,

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and actually selling from the comfort of their own home,

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through online means, by social media.

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I think this is probably because they feel safer, you know,

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they are in the house, and people cannot inspect them

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like they would on a normal, traditional market stall.

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Rhys led an investigation into a husband-and-wife team from Swansea

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who had set up a thriving home clothing business with a difference.

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It is a normal residential street and this is where the Pitsons

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were running their cottage industry from,

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making their counterfeit clothing.

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Behind the doors I don't think anybody would have known

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that there was this fake counterfeit factory going on.

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Rhys and his team finally gathered enough evidence

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to raid the unassuming family home.

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We found hundreds of T-shirts, tracksuits, already branded.

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They had a hanging rail on one side,

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everything was set out like a mini business,

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I was quite surprised at the scale of what we found there.

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It was quite an impressive little set-up they had.

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The couple were buying unbranded blank clothing

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and turning it into branded, fake clothing,

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all from the comfort of their own home.

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The question was, how were they doing it so quickly and efficiently,

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and in such great quantities?

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What we found was this cutter.

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This was connected to a computer

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and they had a bit of software which designed the logos.

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So you put, for example, the Converse logo onto it,

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and you would run a bit of vinyl like this through,

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and it would cut out the words Converse,

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and the mark at the top, and then you take those letters

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and arrange them however you wanted onto a T-shirt.

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A portable steam press can help you out with your household ironing,

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but the fakers were using it to apply the vinyl trademark logos

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they had cut out.

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You would put them into the press,

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press the press down to get a heat on it,

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and then you would have a T-shirt

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which is turned into a Converse T-shirt.

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The fakers artfully put the "con" into Converse

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and went on to make a killing.

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This pile of hundreds of fake branded clothes,

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worth thousands of pounds, was seized from the house,

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giving Rhys all the evidence he needed to prosecute the couple.

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They pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud and counterfeiting.

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Joanne Pitson was given a three-month suspended sentence

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and Lee Pitson was given 120 hours' community service.

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Rhys thinks the problem of fakers

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running their business from home is getting worse.

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What we are finding is there is a lot more of these cottage industries

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involving fakes being found in the homes.

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Because it is so easy, these days, with the onset of technology,

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smaller printers, the internet, social media,

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makes it a lot easier for people to sell products across a wider range

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than what they used to be able to do at a market.

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Last year 30 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured

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as a result of cooking fires in the home.

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Little wonder that many of us choose to protect our homes and loved ones

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by having safety equipment like these fire blankets close at hand.

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They should provide us with peace of mind.

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But these are no comfort blankets.

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They are on sale, they are untested

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and make fake safety claims which could be putting lives at risk.

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Britain's fire services

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are called out to over 20,000 kitchen fires every year.

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In fact they make up over two-thirds of their shouts to domestic premises.

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These fires can burn out of control in an instant,

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causing untold damage, and putting lives in danger...

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..something which furniture designer John Crawford

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became very aware of when a family friend was seriously injured.

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She'd unfortunately been very badly burned in a kitchen fire,

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when she was cooking a dinner for her children,

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wearing a loose shirt, her shirt caught fire,

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and spread very quickly.

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She did not have anything in the kitchen, such as a fire blanket,

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and as a consequence, really, was very badly burned.

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I think it does strike a chord with you,

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it is a daily activity that we do,

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we are cooking dinner for the children every night,

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and it does chime with you

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that that could very easily happen in your own home.

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Spurred into action by what he had heard,

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John went online to buy a fire blanket

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that could help protect him and his family.

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But what had appeared like a quality product online

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began to look very questionable when it arrived.

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As I took it out of the box it became clear

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that the packaging of the product looked a little bit unusual.

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The immediate thing that jumped out was

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where you would expect to see a manufacturer, a country of origin,

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there's nothing there.

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You start to read the text that is on it, and we have,

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"If clothing is on fire, force victim to groud."

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"Wrao", instead of "wrap", "..in fire blanket."

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So they are immediately very obvious

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grammatical or English mistakes on there.

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Altogether you do start to wonder

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if the product isn't right in packaging terms,

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is it really going to do the very serious function

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which it is designed for?

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In Britain there are no compulsory standards for fire blankets,

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but there is a voluntary European standard they can be tested to.

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John's blanket claimed to meet that standard.

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If true, it would mean that it has been proven

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to suppress a fire within seconds

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and that the fire would not reignite

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if the blanket was removed after 17 minutes.

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But there are some more basic tests the fire blanket must pass first.

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And the British Standard Institute's Head of Fire Safety,

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Bob Wells, can tell it falls short of the first hurdle

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and it's a fake.

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On the blanket itself you should have a label,

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rather like you find in a T-shirt or your trousers,

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relating to the manufacturer's name,

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manufacturer's address, and a model reference.

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As you can see, this product has no marking on it at all.

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Failing to meet this simple requirement

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means there is no way the blanket would have been approved

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and casts doubt on whether it is even up to the job.

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I'd be pushing these aside

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and going for something perhaps a little bit more expensive,

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but I know it is going to work when I need it to.

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Alarmingly, Fake Britain has discovered

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thousands of cheap fire blankets being sold,

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many making false safety claims.

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Whether they actually work is anyone's guess.

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To find out, later we will call in the professionals

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and put a selection of them to the test.

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We're just going to place it over.

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Here on Fake Britain, we have shown you

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how the fakers have infiltrated the high street,

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the internet, businesses and even our homes.

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But now they are literally getting under our skin.

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That's because tattoos are more popular than they have ever been.

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Look at these.

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They are inks that a tattooist might use, but they are fake,

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and that is a very serious problem.

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We all know someone who has got one, because tattoos are now mainstream,

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with high-profile figures from David Beckham to David Dimbleby...

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-Ow!

-..sporting ink on their skin.

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In fact there are over 10,000 tattoo studios

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dotted up and down the country,

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adding body art to the 1.5 million Brits

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who get permanently inked every year.

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Charging around £100 an hour, it is a multimillion-pound industry

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that has seen massive growth in recent years.

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And that growth has been fuelled by the work of people like Louis Malloy

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and his celebrity clients.

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I have worked on quite a few famous clients, including the Beckhams,

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Sir Bradley Wiggins, Andrew Flintoff,

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I could go on and on, but I won't.

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With over 30 years' experience,

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Louis is one of Britain's most respected tattooists

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and is a master of his art.

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But with the rising popularity of tattoos

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he has seen a rise in fakes flooding the industry.

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I have seen examples of products

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that are manufactured by European and American companies,

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literally within weeks of them releasing those products,

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the Chinese are then doing counterfeits.

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A long-time target of the fakers has been these tattoo machines.

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Determined to make their mark, though,

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the fakers have not stopped there.

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We can reveal that they have moved on to tattoo inks,

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something which alarms leading industry figures like Louis.

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When you move on to things like tattoo colours,

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it's a whole different ballgame

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because they're going into people's skin.

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You're dealing with an unknown quantity,

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and it can be very, very dangerous

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because you have got no idea what you are putting into your body.

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One of the most popular and trusted brands of tattoo ink is Intenze.

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A single one-ounce bottle costs around £10.

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That is, if it's the real deal.

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This set of 14 Intenze inks, for example,

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is on offer for the unbelievable price of £26 for the lot.

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As you know, we can't resist a bargain here at Fake Britain,

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so we snapped them up, and took them

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to Intenze's sole UK distributor, Global Tattoo Supplies.

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Boss Steve Crane sells these inks day in, day out,

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and before he even takes them out of the packet,

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he confirms that they may be cheap but they are also a con.

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The fakes we can tell immediately.

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They would never be shrink-wrapped or packaged in this foil.

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And, once he gets his hands on them, Steve's experienced eye begins

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to uncover a trail of telltale signs that the fakers have left behind.

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On the fake,

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the ingredients and the disclaimers

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are all going into a tonal grey colour.

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On the original, all of the ink on the label is the same tone.

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No barcode information on the fake, but it is on the original.

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Another giveaway is the colour tone.

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This is the original Mario's Light Blue.

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Unfortunately, the fake is slightly darker,

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so there wouldn't be any consistency for the tattoo artist

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and the customer in getting an ongoing piece of tattoo art.

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With the appearance so different, Steve is keen to see what this

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means for the quality of the product inside.

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We are going to try the fake first of all.

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All I will do is put a little drop of ink down on the paper.

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Spread it around with my thumb.

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As we can see, we have got quite a streaky consistency,

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and it's spreading out quite a lot on the paper.

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This is the original product.

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We are going to do exactly the same thing again.

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Straight away, you see it's a completely different,

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denser product, giving us a nice, bright finish

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as opposed to the streakiness of the fake.

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The difference between the real and fake inks is immediately clear.

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What he is seeing makes Steve worried about the customers who end up

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with this fake ink injected into their skin.

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There would be concern that the tattoo pigment itself

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is so thin and weak that it would result in a bad tattoo

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and also, the health risks associated

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with any inconsistencies in the manufacturing and bottling

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and the hygiene side of this product.

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Years of research has gone into the genuine products

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to make sure they are safe to use on human skin,

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and comply with European regulations on the content of tattoo inks.

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The fakes are untested, and their true contents unknown.

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What he's already seen is giving Steve serious cause for concern,

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and as the ink dries, alarm bells begin to ring about the fake's

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potential to cause serious harm.

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The fake ink is just rubbing away and disappearing as we touch it.

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The original one is not moving at all.

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This is telling me that we have a good, strong, stable product.

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Here, I don't know what we've got.

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With the fake inks looking not just dodgy, but potentially dangerous,

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it's time to get them tested and find out exactly what they contain.

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At the University of Loughborough, two chemists have agreed

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to run a series of tests that will reveal once and for all

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whether these are harmless inks, or a potential health hazard.

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Whilst Dr Matt Turner gets to work determining exactly what

0:19:210:19:25

chemicals the inks contain, a floor below, his colleague

0:19:250:19:30

is testing the fake's claim to be sterile.

0:19:300:19:32

What I've done so far is to dilute the dye

0:19:340:19:36

in some liquid nutrient broth,

0:19:360:19:39

which is essentially, in layman's terms, bacteria food.

0:19:390:19:43

I'm going to swab onto an agar plate.

0:19:430:19:47

What we will then do is incubate the plates

0:19:490:19:52

and we'll see if anything grows.

0:19:520:19:55

If it was sterile, we should see nothing.

0:19:570:20:00

The plates stay in the incubator for 48 hours

0:20:010:20:04

at a temperature of 37 degrees,

0:20:040:20:06

designed to replicate what would happen in the human body.

0:20:060:20:09

When they are taken out, the genuine product is all clear, as expected.

0:20:100:20:15

But the fake white ink paints a very different, and scary, picture.

0:20:150:20:20

We saw that there was bacterial growth.

0:20:200:20:23

It was quite shocking actually because you could

0:20:230:20:27

see there was certainly something growing in there.

0:20:270:20:30

The dye is contaminated with some sort of bug.

0:20:300:20:33

There are two families of bacteria present.

0:20:330:20:36

I suspect one is the streptococcal family,

0:20:360:20:39

and the other is the proteas family.

0:20:390:20:41

The streptococcal family includes the infamous hospital superbug MRSA,

0:20:410:20:46

and proteus bacteria are found in human and animal faeces,

0:20:460:20:51

meaning, far from being sterile,

0:20:510:20:53

these inks are being produced in squalid, unhygienic conditions.

0:20:530:20:57

Anyone getting a tattoo with these could be in serious trouble.

0:20:570:21:00

If this particular dye is injected into the skin,

0:21:000:21:04

if it does get into the bloodstream,

0:21:040:21:07

then this could cause a variety of problems.

0:21:070:21:09

The worst-case scenario we're looking at is sepsis, where we

0:21:090:21:13

have got inflammation occurring due to the infection in the body.

0:21:130:21:19

This could potentially cause something fatal,

0:21:190:21:23

such as a heart attack.

0:21:230:21:26

These findings mean that anyone being conned into buying these counterfeit

0:21:260:21:31

inks could end up administering a deadly dose to one of their clients.

0:21:310:21:35

The results from Matt's analysis of the contents are equally concerning.

0:21:360:21:41

On the top we have the genuine tattoo ink,

0:21:430:21:45

where we have just two major components.

0:21:450:21:47

On the bottom we've got the fake tattoo ink,

0:21:470:21:50

where you can see there are several different components.

0:21:500:21:53

We don't know what these components are,

0:21:530:21:55

or what they'll do once they get into your body.

0:21:550:21:58

Using his years of experience to interpret these findings,

0:21:580:22:01

Matt fears what he's seeing in the fakes poses a real danger.

0:22:010:22:05

These dyes could be industrial dyes that are used in paints

0:22:050:22:10

or clothing, and were never meant to come into contact with skin.

0:22:100:22:14

The worst-case scenario

0:22:140:22:16

would be these inks getting into your bloodstream,

0:22:160:22:19

the materials in the ink accumulating in your body,

0:22:190:22:22

and in your organs, and you get a severe allergic reaction

0:22:220:22:26

and it shuts your organs down.

0:22:260:22:28

The findings could hardly be worse,

0:22:290:22:31

with the fakes declared potentially lethal on two fronts.

0:22:310:22:34

For respected tattooist Louis Molloy, who campaigns against counterfeit

0:22:360:22:40

products, this time the fakers have gone too far.

0:22:400:22:43

I think it's quite shocking that someone is prepared to make

0:22:430:22:46

something like that and sell it. It is wrong, it is very, very wrong.

0:22:460:22:50

It should not be allowed.

0:22:500:22:52

People who manufacture counterfeit tattoo pigment

0:22:530:22:57

put profit over people's health.

0:22:570:22:59

They are just scum, in my mind.

0:22:590:23:01

While legitimate tattooists like Louis are appalled,

0:23:020:23:05

the number of people potentially using these products is on the rise.

0:23:050:23:09

As we'll see later, councils across Britain are battling

0:23:090:23:13

to control growing numbers of fake tattoo artists

0:23:130:23:16

operating from backrooms and putting members of the public at risk.

0:23:160:23:20

We don't know how you're operating.

0:23:220:23:23

The worry is about HIV, hepatitis, spreading disease.

0:23:230:23:27

Earlier, we saw how thousands of fire blankets are being sold bearing

0:23:350:23:38

fake safety claims, with no proof that they are even up to the job.

0:23:380:23:42

If something does go wrong,

0:23:450:23:47

it's your local fire service who has to come to the rescue.

0:23:470:23:51

West Midlands Fire Service is one of the busiest brigades in the country.

0:23:520:23:56

With over 20 years on the job, operations commander

0:23:560:24:00

Steve Harris knows just how dangerous kitchen fires can be.

0:24:000:24:04

Recently we had a fatal kitchen fire, so it's a serious situation.

0:24:060:24:10

We advise people just to get out and stay out and call us

0:24:100:24:14

to put the fire out for them.

0:24:140:24:16

But, for the thousands who have fire blankets to hand,

0:24:160:24:19

and use them to bring a fire under control,

0:24:190:24:21

they must at the very least be reliable and up to the job.

0:24:210:24:24

Steve is shocked to learn that there are fakes on the market.

0:24:250:24:29

If fire blankets turn out to be fake and don't do what they should,

0:24:290:24:33

then, yes, it could make the situation worse.

0:24:330:24:36

Somebody might believe they are using a genuine product

0:24:360:24:39

to put a fire out, and actually it doesn't do the job,

0:24:390:24:41

makes the situation worse, puts that person in danger,

0:24:410:24:45

and then we have to go into the building to try to save their life.

0:24:450:24:48

At the service's training base, Steve is getting kitted up

0:24:500:24:53

to put a selection of six fire blankets we've found

0:24:530:24:56

bearing fake safety markings through a real-life scenario.

0:24:560:24:59

This mobile unit is normally used to demonstrate to the public

0:25:020:25:06

just how lethal chip-pan fires can be.

0:25:060:25:08

Now, Steve is firing it up to discover how this lot perform

0:25:090:25:12

when the heat is on.

0:25:120:25:14

We're just going to place it over.

0:25:140:25:15

It quickly becomes apparent that, far from protecting themselves,

0:25:180:25:21

anyone relying on these fake fire blankets

0:25:210:25:24

could be putting themselves in serious danger.

0:25:240:25:27

Clearly, that has not worked. It is still a substantial fire.

0:25:290:25:33

That would have set fire to a kitchen now,

0:25:330:25:35

and you would have a significant property fire.

0:25:350:25:38

I can't comment on the European standard.

0:25:380:25:41

What I can say is that doesn't work.

0:25:410:25:43

That does not do what I expect a fire blanket to have done.

0:25:430:25:46

The blanket has not cut off oxygen to the fire,

0:25:460:25:48

so we still have oxygen, we still have heat,

0:25:480:25:50

and we still have fuel, and we still have a fire.

0:25:500:25:53

I'd be very worried that people are selling these

0:25:530:25:55

and the public are buying them,

0:25:550:25:57

assuming that they would put out a chip-pan fire.

0:25:570:25:59

Our advice is to get out, stay out and call 999.

0:25:590:26:03

Then you're not in any danger.

0:26:030:26:05

Five minutes in, the fire is still burning,

0:26:050:26:08

and the fire blanket's claims are clearly fake.

0:26:080:26:11

The kitchen would have been destroyed by fire by now.

0:26:120:26:14

On average, it takes around five minutes for a fire engine

0:26:140:26:17

to get to a property.

0:26:170:26:19

This has been five minutes and we still have a fire.

0:26:190:26:22

So it is worrying.

0:26:220:26:24

In fact, it takes more than eight minutes for the flames

0:26:240:26:27

to finally die out.

0:26:270:26:28

Something in this blanket has caused it

0:26:290:26:32

not to do what it is supposed to do.

0:26:320:26:34

Some of this is heat damaged

0:26:340:26:35

and we would expect that from a blanket that has done its job,

0:26:350:26:39

but this one has just gone very, very brittle now.

0:26:390:26:43

As you can see, it did not do its job.

0:26:430:26:46

It did not work.

0:26:460:26:48

Disturbingly, it's not the only one.

0:26:500:26:53

Almost instantly, the flames broke through this blanket and,

0:26:570:27:01

as you can see, there's still fire on top of the actual fire blanket,

0:27:010:27:05

so in essence, the fire blanket has not done anything.

0:27:050:27:08

I certainly would not want to use that kind of fire blanket

0:27:080:27:11

in my property,

0:27:110:27:12

and I would not suggest that anybody buys a blanket of that standard.

0:27:120:27:16

Out of a sample of six, two have been engulfed by flames and had no effect.

0:27:160:27:21

But this test has taken place under more forgiving outdoor conditions,

0:27:230:27:27

and having seen them up close, Steve is not happy any of

0:27:270:27:30

these blankets could be relied upon in an emergency inside a property.

0:27:300:27:35

It appears it's a bit of a lottery as to which one works.

0:27:350:27:38

You don't know whether it works until you actually need it.

0:27:380:27:41

You can't test a fire blanket.

0:27:410:27:43

You use it, and it works or it doesn't,

0:27:430:27:45

and that is too much of a chance for me.

0:27:450:27:48

We showed John Crawford, who bought one of these fake fire blankets

0:27:490:27:53

to protect his young family, the results of this trial by fire.

0:27:530:27:57

I am very glad that I did buy another blanket.

0:27:580:28:00

It is quite scary, really, to see

0:28:000:28:03

the intensity of the flames after the blanket has been put on.

0:28:030:28:07

By trusting his suspicions,

0:28:080:28:10

John realises he may have had a lucky escape.

0:28:100:28:12

It is clearly quite dangerous, what is being done.

0:28:120:28:15

I think a good comparison is perhaps buying a car that claims

0:28:150:28:19

to have airbags and by the time you have an accident,

0:28:190:28:22

and you realise that no airbags were fitted, then it is clearly too late.

0:28:220:28:27

Earlier, we saw the fake tattoo inks for sale,

0:28:330:28:36

which could cause illness or potentially even death.

0:28:360:28:40

The worst-case scenario would be you get a severe allergic reaction

0:28:400:28:44

and it shuts your organs down.

0:28:440:28:46

The people likely to be using these products are not likely to be

0:28:460:28:49

reputable tattoo studios

0:28:490:28:51

but fake tattooists who are unregistered and inexperienced.

0:28:510:28:55

In Britain, a tattooist has to have been inspected by the local council

0:28:570:29:00

and awarded a registration certificate that declares

0:29:000:29:04

their premises hygienic and them fit to operate.

0:29:040:29:07

But in recent years, there's been a rise in fakers,

0:29:090:29:12

falsely claiming these credentials.

0:29:120:29:15

In Plymouth, they're fighting back with Operation Itchy,

0:29:150:29:19

a crackdown on illegal tattooists, known in the trade as scratchers.

0:29:190:29:23

Environmental Health officer Will Tomkins

0:29:240:29:27

is spearheading the operation.

0:29:270:29:28

We are here to execute a court order now, a property down the road,

0:29:280:29:32

where we suspect illegal tattooing is taking place.

0:29:320:29:35

The powers we've got is power of entry to the property,

0:29:350:29:38

we've got powers for the occupant there to answer questions

0:29:380:29:42

relating to the illegal tattoo operation,

0:29:420:29:44

and we've also got powers to seize and destroy any equipment we find.

0:29:440:29:48

Will has got intelligence that a tattoo business is being run

0:29:480:29:51

out of this house by a man making fake claims

0:29:510:29:54

to his clients that he's registered to operate.

0:29:540:29:57

The key reason for us going in is concerns about public health.

0:29:570:30:00

The risks of tattooing when you aren't registered,

0:30:000:30:03

or when you haven't been inspected by us,

0:30:030:30:05

the risks of blood-borne infections, HIV, hepatitis,

0:30:050:30:09

are greatly increased, so we want to protect the public.

0:30:090:30:12

Will has seen first-hand the dangers fake

0:30:130:30:16

and unlicensed tattooists can cause.

0:30:160:30:18

Operation Itchy has already taken three scratchers off the streets.

0:30:180:30:22

This victim was hospitalised for two weeks

0:30:220:30:25

after his tattoo became infected.

0:30:250:30:27

With another scratcher in his sights,

0:30:290:30:31

Will hopefully will find enough evidence inside

0:30:310:30:34

to close this operation down before anyone else gets hurt.

0:30:340:30:36

KNOCKS ON DOOR

0:30:360:30:39

No-one's home.

0:30:440:30:45

Even though Will's warrant gives him power to force entry,

0:30:450:30:48

he has the tattooist's mobile number,

0:30:480:30:51

and this faker is about to receive a very unwelcome wake-up call.

0:30:510:30:55

I'm from Environmental Health at Plymouth City Council.

0:30:550:30:57

We're at the property now.

0:30:570:30:59

All right, we'll see you when you get here.

0:30:590:31:01

Yes, I have just contacted one of the mobile phone numbers

0:31:010:31:06

we've got, so we're going to pick up the person

0:31:060:31:08

and they'll be back in half an hour.

0:31:080:31:10

I'm from Environmental Health.

0:31:120:31:14

We've come to see if you are running an illegal tattoo business.

0:31:140:31:17

As soon as he sets foot inside the premises, Will sees evidence

0:31:170:31:21

of the faker's illegal activity, and reads him his rights.

0:31:210:31:25

I will caution you now.

0:31:250:31:26

You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence

0:31:260:31:29

if you do not mention when questioned

0:31:290:31:31

something which you later rely on in court.

0:31:310:31:33

Formalities over, the search can begin.

0:31:330:31:36

With the risk of infection from dirty needles,

0:31:360:31:39

Will is not taking any chances.

0:31:390:31:41

Put some gloves on and I'll have a look and see what we have got.

0:31:410:31:44

There's everything needed here to run the faker's tattoo operation

0:31:440:31:48

from his front room.

0:31:480:31:50

We've got the needles in here.

0:31:500:31:52

And there's a sharps box in here as well.

0:31:530:31:55

Love Tattoos box containing tattoo machines.

0:31:550:31:59

Will and the team catalogue each item for evidence,

0:32:000:32:03

but the risk of infection from this potentially unhygienic kit

0:32:030:32:07

means they won't be holding on to it.

0:32:070:32:09

Everything we've got here is now going to be destroyed,

0:32:090:32:13

so we'll phone a waste contractor who will take that away.

0:32:130:32:16

As the search moves into the kitchen,

0:32:160:32:18

the team are looking for more evidence to confirm

0:32:180:32:20

that the faker's running a commercial tattooing operation,

0:32:200:32:24

and details in a diary could be vital evidence.

0:32:240:32:27

Is this one your diary?

0:32:270:32:29

-Yes.

-OK.

0:32:290:32:30

I'm going to take this as evidence.

0:32:310:32:33

Proof of his illegal activity is mounting,

0:32:330:32:36

but the faker is still seemingly confused

0:32:360:32:38

as to why he's being targeted. Will spells it out for him.

0:32:380:32:42

Because you're operating unregistered,

0:32:420:32:45

you haven't had the inspection,

0:32:450:32:46

and the worries from our point of view is public health,

0:32:460:32:50

it is about HIV, hepatitis, spreading disease.

0:32:500:32:53

We can't be sure - any of the equipment there

0:32:530:32:55

could be contaminated because we have not inspected you,

0:32:550:32:58

we don't know how you're operating.

0:32:580:33:00

With the equipment confiscated,

0:33:050:33:07

it's another scratcher put out of business,

0:33:070:33:09

and, after reviewing the evidence,

0:33:090:33:11

Will can decide whether to haul the faker before the courts.

0:33:110:33:15

The fact is that we found equipment,

0:33:150:33:17

and we believe that person was operating illegally.

0:33:170:33:20

Will's suspect will have to wait to find out his fate,

0:33:220:33:25

but it's a problem that stretches right across the country.

0:33:250:33:28

In Carlisle, fake tattooist Justin McKnight has been convicted

0:33:310:33:34

and is today facing sentencing for his crimes.

0:33:340:33:37

A mountain of evidence was amassed against McKnight,

0:33:380:33:41

following a tip-off from the genuine tattoo trade.

0:33:410:33:44

Environmental Health officer Scott Burns led the investigation.

0:33:440:33:49

When we went into the property we seized a large amount of items.

0:33:490:33:53

You can see we've got tattoo needles,

0:33:530:33:56

we've got the tubes that fit into the guns.

0:33:560:33:59

What's not here is any sterilising baths,

0:33:590:34:02

or any suitable cleansing wipes.

0:34:020:34:05

When the team entered McKnight's premises,

0:34:060:34:09

they found promotional material advertising his illegal business

0:34:090:34:12

and, more worryingly, a home tattoo studio,

0:34:120:34:15

where used inks and equipment were left lying around.

0:34:150:34:19

The hygiene and the cleanliness of the premises were poor.

0:34:190:34:22

This is one of the needles that we confiscated from the premises.

0:34:220:34:26

The needles are still attached.

0:34:260:34:28

We'd hope that those would have been taken out and put in the sharps box.

0:34:280:34:32

The equipment itself should be covered.

0:34:320:34:34

There is a risk of contamination,

0:34:350:34:37

and we do know that one of the four people who we know had a tattoo

0:34:370:34:42

done by Mr McKnight had to be on antibiotics for a skin infection.

0:34:420:34:46

Not only was McKnight operating illegally,

0:34:480:34:50

but gaining clients and credibility

0:34:500:34:52

by making fake claims about his experience and expertise.

0:34:520:34:56

Mr McKnight was claiming that he had 22 years of experience,

0:34:560:35:00

and that was the claim he made on his website.

0:35:000:35:03

When we actually properly interviewed him under caution,

0:35:030:35:06

it transpired that that 22 years

0:35:060:35:07

was 22 years of him having tattoos himself,

0:35:070:35:10

not carrying out tattoos on other people.

0:35:100:35:13

It mentions on your website 22 years' experience.

0:35:130:35:16

Within tattoos, getting them myself.

0:35:160:35:19

He looked like the real deal.

0:35:200:35:22

He had all the facilities, but he was fake and he put people at risk.

0:35:220:35:27

Confronted with the evidence, McKnight pleads guilty,

0:35:300:35:33

and he emerges from court with a 100-day suspended jail sentence,

0:35:330:35:37

as well as an order to pay costs.

0:35:370:35:39

For Scott and the team, it is job done.

0:35:410:35:44

We're pleased with the result,

0:35:440:35:46

and we hope we've sent the right message out -

0:35:460:35:48

one, support your registered tattooists

0:35:480:35:51

because they've got the right facilities and equipment,

0:35:510:35:54

and don't support these fake scratchers,

0:35:540:35:56

because they can be very dangerous.

0:35:560:35:58

The fakers have already got inside our homes.

0:36:040:36:07

Now, they're inside our homes away from home.

0:36:070:36:10

There are more than a million caravans in the UK,

0:36:100:36:14

and a fun-filled holiday in one isn't complete, or hygienic,

0:36:140:36:18

without some of this stuff.

0:36:180:36:19

Toilet fluid,

0:36:210:36:22

specifically designed to stop the germs

0:36:220:36:24

taking advantage of the cosy conditions in the caravan loo.

0:36:240:36:28

But, you guessed it, this is fake,

0:36:280:36:30

and that means the happy holiday could turn into a health hazard.

0:36:300:36:34

Caravanning is a British obsession.

0:36:370:36:39

Over 1.5 million of us own one,

0:36:390:36:41

and as a nation we spend over £2 billion a year on caravan holidays

0:36:410:36:46

and the kit that goes with it.

0:36:460:36:48

This is our caravan, if you want to pop in and have a look around.

0:36:490:36:54

Barry Green and his wife Sue love their caravan.

0:36:540:36:57

This is the lounge, seating area for ourselves and friends, of course.

0:36:570:37:01

We've got the kitchen here.

0:37:010:37:02

A double bed, and in here we have got the bathroom.

0:37:020:37:06

Keen caravanners for over 25 years,

0:37:060:37:09

they're very proud of their mobile home away from home.

0:37:090:37:12

It's just getting away from normal normality really, I suppose.

0:37:120:37:16

You get into a little world of your own.

0:37:160:37:20

It's just a really, really nice way of life.

0:37:200:37:23

We've got some really good friends, and we meet a lot of nice people.

0:37:230:37:26

While some of the kit that goes with the caravanning lifestyle

0:37:280:37:31

is a luxury, other things are essential

0:37:310:37:33

to keep these small spaces sanitary,

0:37:330:37:36

like this, antibacterial toilet fluid.

0:37:360:37:39

Known as Elsan Blue, it's a popular choice amongst caravanners,

0:37:390:37:43

so when Barry and Sue saw some of it on special offer,

0:37:430:37:46

they snapped it up.

0:37:460:37:48

We were on the Lincolnshire Centre Caravan Club rally

0:37:480:37:52

and we spotted one stall selling Elsan Blue.

0:37:520:37:58

We thought, "£9.99, that really is an excellent price,"

0:38:000:38:04

so we decided to purchase it.

0:38:040:38:06

Selling at a third less than its normal retail price,

0:38:060:38:11

many others were also taking advantage of the bargain.

0:38:110:38:14

But Barry and Sue soon began to question

0:38:140:38:17

whether it had been money well spent.

0:38:170:38:20

After a couple of days of use, I thought,

0:38:200:38:23

"There's a bit of a whiff in here."

0:38:230:38:26

Every time I went in, I thought it smelled a bit like the sewer.

0:38:260:38:31

It seemed extremely thin and I thought, "This doesn't seem right."

0:38:310:38:37

I decided that I would take it up with the company.

0:38:370:38:41

Barry e-mailed a letter of complaint,

0:38:430:38:45

along with photos of the offending bottle.

0:38:450:38:47

They were passed to boss Tony King, who knew straight away

0:38:470:38:51

that his company had fallen victim to the fakers.

0:38:510:38:54

One of the things we first noticed was it was a five-litre bottle.

0:38:540:38:57

We've never made a five-litre ourselves.

0:38:570:38:59

It was a straight clue that this was going to be a counterfeit product.

0:38:590:39:03

The problem for us was our reputation.

0:39:030:39:05

As Barry first thought, it might be an Elsan product,

0:39:050:39:08

and it's Elsan that's going to get the blame.

0:39:080:39:10

As an independent British company, who still manufacture everything

0:39:100:39:14

on site, over a century they have built up an impressive pedigree.

0:39:140:39:18

During World War II, all RAF bombers were equipped with Elsan toilets

0:39:200:39:23

and chemicals, and today they supply to several major airlines,

0:39:230:39:27

as well as the caravan trade.

0:39:270:39:29

The company was established in 1924,

0:39:300:39:32

and since then we have been developing new formulas

0:39:320:39:35

and new products to try and produce something

0:39:350:39:37

that's an extremely good product, the best on the market.

0:39:370:39:41

With an unknown quantity of the fake fluid now on the market,

0:39:410:39:45

it was not just their hard-won reputation that Tony feared

0:39:450:39:48

was at risk from the actions of the fakers.

0:39:480:39:51

There is a safety angle - Elsan Blue is extremely antibacterial,

0:39:510:39:54

and it's designed to kill all the bad bugs and germs in your toilet,

0:39:540:39:58

so when you come to dispose of the waste, you have got a reasonable,

0:39:580:40:01

safe chance of getting rid of it without catching anything horrible.

0:40:010:40:04

If you come into contact with human waste, it's an immediate health hazard.

0:40:040:40:08

Although the bottle looked convincing,

0:40:080:40:11

Tony feared what customers were being sold

0:40:110:40:14

was nothing like the genuine article.

0:40:140:40:16

And an initial inspection only seemed to confirm his fears.

0:40:160:40:20

You can see that they both look very different.

0:40:200:40:22

It is very obvious that the fake product is very thin, watery,

0:40:220:40:26

hardly any colour at all,

0:40:260:40:28

and the genuine product

0:40:280:40:29

is a nice dark blue and there is no comparison between the two.

0:40:290:40:32

This is probably just blue water.

0:40:320:40:34

It is criminal.

0:40:340:40:36

It is basically fraud, we think.

0:40:360:40:38

The bigger fear, though, is that, as well as being short-changed,

0:40:390:40:43

anyone who has been sold one of the counterfeit bottles

0:40:430:40:46

could be leaving themselves exposed to a range of gastrointestinal diseases.

0:40:460:40:50

So, to find out the effects of using both the real and fake fluids,

0:40:530:40:57

a leading microbiologist is testing their kill rate against E. coli,

0:40:570:41:02

a bug commonly found in human waste.

0:41:020:41:05

We take a quantity of living E. coli,

0:41:070:41:11

spread it onto the surface of an agar plate,

0:41:110:41:15

and then spot onto the plate the genuine product

0:41:150:41:18

and the counterfeit product,

0:41:180:41:21

incubate it overnight at 37 degrees centigrade,

0:41:210:41:25

and see what happens.

0:41:250:41:26

What appears on these plates will show to the naked eye

0:41:280:41:32

what would be taking place invisibly in bathrooms like Barry and Sue's,

0:41:320:41:36

where the fake is used.

0:41:360:41:38

As you can see, there is an obvious difference.

0:41:380:41:42

The clear circle around the genuine product on the left

0:41:420:41:45

means it's killed everything it has touched.

0:41:450:41:48

But on the right, the spot of fake fluid has had no effect.

0:41:480:41:51

The E. coli is still growing unchecked.

0:41:510:41:54

The counterfeit product has no antimicrobial activity at all.

0:41:540:41:58

If the product that they're using is not killing E. coli,

0:41:580:42:03

then it's not going to kill other pathogenic diseases,

0:42:030:42:07

in other words they will be present, and they will cause problems.

0:42:070:42:10

Gut disorders,

0:42:100:42:12

diarrhoea,

0:42:120:42:13

dysentery.

0:42:130:42:14

It's not doing the job.

0:42:160:42:17

No-one knows how many bottles of fake fluid have made their way

0:42:180:42:22

onto the market, and how many people have been put at risk.

0:42:220:42:25

But, having seen the results of the test,

0:42:270:42:29

Barry and Sue now realise they have had a lucky escape.

0:42:290:42:33

It's frightening to find that we were just using coloured water.

0:42:330:42:39

It is horrifying.

0:42:390:42:42

Everybody knows it's there for a reason,

0:42:420:42:44

to protect you from diseases,

0:42:440:42:47

and how anybody could do this to you is unbelievable.

0:42:470:42:51

That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye.

0:42:570:43:00

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