Browse content similar to Episode 8. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
Welcome to Fake Britain. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:08 | |
Police! | 0:00:08 | 0:00:10 | |
Get down! Get down! On the floor now! | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
Put your hands behind your back now! | 0:00:22 | 0:00:24 | |
Here at the Fake Britain house | 0:00:24 | 0:00:26 | |
we will reveal the fakes that are flooding the market, | 0:00:26 | 0:00:29 | |
conning people like you and me, and making money for the criminals. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
We will investigate the fraudsters who are selling us | 0:00:33 | 0:00:36 | |
something that isn't real and could be dangerous. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
And we'll help you avoid falling for a fake. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
Today on Fake Britain we reveal the trade in fire blankets | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
whose safety claims go up in smoke. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
Clearly that hasn't worked. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
We pay an unwelcome visit to the suspects thought to be running | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
counterfeit operations at their own homes. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
I'd describe this as, like, a little shop. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
Everything that's for sale on the fake market, | 0:01:03 | 0:01:05 | |
represented in this one room. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:07 | |
And we expose the fake tattoo inks | 0:01:07 | 0:01:09 | |
that could mean clients get a lethal injection. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
This could potentially cause something fatal | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
such as a heart attack. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
It is happening all over the country. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:24 | |
More than four million of us are now cutting out the daily commute | 0:01:24 | 0:01:27 | |
and working from the comfort of our own homes. | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
People running all sorts of home-based businesses, trades | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
and professions could be your neighbours. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
You might not even know a business was there. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
And never one to miss a trick, the fakers are getting in on the act, too, | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
running their counterfeit empires from behind their own four walls. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:48 | |
So, do you know what is going on next door? | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
Right across Britain an ever-increasing number | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
of stay-at-home fakers are setting up shop | 0:01:55 | 0:01:57 | |
behind the doors of ordinary domestic premises. | 0:01:57 | 0:02:00 | |
For Trading Standards officer Chris Jones this emerging trend | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
means changing tactics | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
to take the fight to the fakers on their home turf. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:10 | |
Today he is in Bedfordshire | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
and en route to a suspected stay-at-home faker | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
he has heard has been running an open house. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
From our own intelligence today it appears that there is a garage | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
at the rear of the house full of Ugg boots | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
and some of those headphones, | 0:02:26 | 0:02:28 | |
so it should be quite a lot of stuff today. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
He is believed to have duped customers with his counterfeit goods | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
and they have shopped him to Trading Standards. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:38 | |
-Mr -BLEEP? | 0:02:44 | 0:02:45 | |
I am from Trading Standards, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
we have a warrant to search your premises for fake items. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
The suspect leads Chris to his garage, housing not his car, | 0:02:52 | 0:02:55 | |
but what appears to be a counterfeit stash. | 0:02:55 | 0:02:58 | |
Wow. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
Welcome to the latest store, just off the high street, | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
where everything seems to be a fake. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
I would describe this as, like, a little shop. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
Everything is on display. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:11 | |
We even had carrier bags to take the stock away, | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
and all the stock was displayed in the varying brand areas. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:18 | |
So we have watches go with watches, electrical goods together, | 0:03:18 | 0:03:22 | |
and clothing in another section of the shop. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:24 | |
So it is like a corner store for fake items. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:28 | |
All these watches are Michael Kors watches. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
Well done, jewelled, all working. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:35 | |
In fact his collection is so extensive | 0:03:35 | 0:03:37 | |
some of it is even new on Chris. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:39 | |
I've never heard of this Michael Kors hat, | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
and never heard of the Ugg hat. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:44 | |
So it will be interesting what the brand owner comes up with. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
To be honest with you I didn't know | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
that brand made that particular product. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
Like any shopkeeper the faker has not only got the latest gear, | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
he is also on hand to answer questions. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:57 | |
-Are you able to tell me how much you would charge for that? -How much? | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
-Yeah. -25. -OK, thanks for that. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
This Ralph Lauren and SuperDry stuff, and take that row, right? | 0:04:03 | 0:04:07 | |
As it is, it is easier if we do that. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
The faker is even willing to throw in free extra. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
-You can have the hangers. -You sure? -Yeah. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
The suspect might be trying to make light of the situation | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
but the evidence against him seems overwhelming. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
The van is going to be full. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:23 | |
We're on about something like, I think, Exhibit 25, | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
of these big bags of varying products. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
Never had so many different ones at all, like this. A bit of everything. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:34 | |
Virtually a current what's for sale on the fake market | 0:04:34 | 0:04:37 | |
is represented in this one room. | 0:04:37 | 0:04:39 | |
It is not just clothes on sale | 0:04:39 | 0:04:41 | |
but also suspected counterfeit electrical goods. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:44 | |
This is a radio mic. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
Very popular with young people at the moment. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
And actually, to buy the real, non-fake product, very expensive. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:54 | |
But cheap counterfeits often don't meet British standards | 0:04:54 | 0:04:58 | |
and could pose a danger to the public. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:01 | |
Eventually two vehicles are crammed full of confiscated goods | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
which will be analysed back at base. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
And Trading Standards has proved that selling from home | 0:05:07 | 0:05:10 | |
rather than on the high street | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
does not offer suspected fakers a safe place to hide. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
This chap is like a general shop in any high street in a town. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:20 | |
So he has been making good money out of it. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
They have lost a lot of money today, because his stock has gone. | 0:05:22 | 0:05:26 | |
Whilst some criminals are selling fakes from their homes, | 0:05:26 | 0:05:28 | |
others are going one step further and making the fakes to sell on. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
200 miles west, | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
Rhys Harries from Swansea Trading Standards | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
is finding that good old British manufacturing is thriving - | 0:05:39 | 0:05:43 | |
amongst the fakers, at least. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:44 | |
What we are finding now is that people are moving away | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
from selling counterfeit goods at markets, | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
or from the back of white vans, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:53 | |
and actually selling from the comfort of their own home, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:56 | |
through online means, by social media. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
I think this is probably because they feel safer, you know, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
they are in the house, and people cannot inspect them | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
like they would on a normal, traditional market stall. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:08 | |
Rhys led an investigation into a husband-and-wife team from Swansea | 0:06:08 | 0:06:12 | |
who had set up a thriving home clothing business with a difference. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
It is a normal residential street and this is where the Pitsons | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
were running their cottage industry from, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
making their counterfeit clothing. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:26 | |
Behind the doors I don't think anybody would have known | 0:06:26 | 0:06:29 | |
that there was this fake counterfeit factory going on. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:32 | |
Rhys and his team finally gathered enough evidence | 0:06:32 | 0:06:36 | |
to raid the unassuming family home. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:39 | |
We found hundreds of T-shirts, tracksuits, already branded. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:43 | |
They had a hanging rail on one side, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
everything was set out like a mini business, | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
I was quite surprised at the scale of what we found there. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:56 | |
It was quite an impressive little set-up they had. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
The couple were buying unbranded blank clothing | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
and turning it into branded, fake clothing, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
all from the comfort of their own home. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
The question was, how were they doing it so quickly and efficiently, | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
and in such great quantities? | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
What we found was this cutter. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
This was connected to a computer | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
and they had a bit of software which designed the logos. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:22 | |
So you put, for example, the Converse logo onto it, | 0:07:22 | 0:07:26 | |
and you would run a bit of vinyl like this through, | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
and it would cut out the words Converse, | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
and the mark at the top, and then you take those letters | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
and arrange them however you wanted onto a T-shirt. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:40 | |
A portable steam press can help you out with your household ironing, | 0:07:40 | 0:07:43 | |
but the fakers were using it to apply the vinyl trademark logos | 0:07:43 | 0:07:47 | |
they had cut out. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:49 | |
You would put them into the press, | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
press the press down to get a heat on it, | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
and then you would have a T-shirt | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
which is turned into a Converse T-shirt. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:58 | |
The fakers artfully put the "con" into Converse | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
and went on to make a killing. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:04 | |
This pile of hundreds of fake branded clothes, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
worth thousands of pounds, was seized from the house, | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
giving Rhys all the evidence he needed to prosecute the couple. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:13 | |
They pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud and counterfeiting. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
Joanne Pitson was given a three-month suspended sentence | 0:08:19 | 0:08:23 | |
and Lee Pitson was given 120 hours' community service. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
Rhys thinks the problem of fakers | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
running their business from home is getting worse. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
What we are finding is there is a lot more of these cottage industries | 0:08:33 | 0:08:37 | |
involving fakes being found in the homes. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
Because it is so easy, these days, with the onset of technology, | 0:08:40 | 0:08:44 | |
smaller printers, the internet, social media, | 0:08:44 | 0:08:48 | |
makes it a lot easier for people to sell products across a wider range | 0:08:48 | 0:08:52 | |
than what they used to be able to do at a market. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
Last year 30 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
as a result of cooking fires in the home. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
Little wonder that many of us choose to protect our homes and loved ones | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
by having safety equipment like these fire blankets close at hand. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:16 | |
They should provide us with peace of mind. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
But these are no comfort blankets. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:20 | |
They are on sale, they are untested | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
and make fake safety claims which could be putting lives at risk. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
Britain's fire services | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
are called out to over 20,000 kitchen fires every year. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
In fact they make up over two-thirds of their shouts to domestic premises. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
These fires can burn out of control in an instant, | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
causing untold damage, and putting lives in danger... | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
..something which furniture designer John Crawford | 0:09:53 | 0:09:56 | |
became very aware of when a family friend was seriously injured. | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
She'd unfortunately been very badly burned in a kitchen fire, | 0:10:01 | 0:10:05 | |
when she was cooking a dinner for her children, | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
wearing a loose shirt, her shirt caught fire, | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
and spread very quickly. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
She did not have anything in the kitchen, such as a fire blanket, | 0:10:12 | 0:10:17 | |
and as a consequence, really, was very badly burned. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:22 | |
I think it does strike a chord with you, | 0:10:25 | 0:10:28 | |
it is a daily activity that we do, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:30 | |
we are cooking dinner for the children every night, | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
and it does chime with you | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
that that could very easily happen in your own home. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:40 | |
Spurred into action by what he had heard, | 0:10:40 | 0:10:42 | |
John went online to buy a fire blanket | 0:10:42 | 0:10:44 | |
that could help protect him and his family. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
But what had appeared like a quality product online | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
began to look very questionable when it arrived. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
As I took it out of the box it became clear | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
that the packaging of the product looked a little bit unusual. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:03 | |
The immediate thing that jumped out was | 0:11:03 | 0:11:05 | |
where you would expect to see a manufacturer, a country of origin, | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
there's nothing there. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:11 | |
You start to read the text that is on it, and we have, | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
"If clothing is on fire, force victim to groud." | 0:11:14 | 0:11:18 | |
"Wrao", instead of "wrap", "..in fire blanket." | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
So they are immediately very obvious | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
grammatical or English mistakes on there. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
Altogether you do start to wonder | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
if the product isn't right in packaging terms, | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
is it really going to do the very serious function | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
which it is designed for? | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
In Britain there are no compulsory standards for fire blankets, | 0:11:38 | 0:11:41 | |
but there is a voluntary European standard they can be tested to. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:46 | |
John's blanket claimed to meet that standard. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
If true, it would mean that it has been proven | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
to suppress a fire within seconds | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
and that the fire would not reignite | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
if the blanket was removed after 17 minutes. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:57 | |
But there are some more basic tests the fire blanket must pass first. | 0:12:02 | 0:12:06 | |
And the British Standard Institute's Head of Fire Safety, | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
Bob Wells, can tell it falls short of the first hurdle | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
and it's a fake. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
On the blanket itself you should have a label, | 0:12:17 | 0:12:19 | |
rather like you find in a T-shirt or your trousers, | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
relating to the manufacturer's name, | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
manufacturer's address, and a model reference. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
As you can see, this product has no marking on it at all. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:34 | |
Failing to meet this simple requirement | 0:12:34 | 0:12:36 | |
means there is no way the blanket would have been approved | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
and casts doubt on whether it is even up to the job. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
I'd be pushing these aside | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
and going for something perhaps a little bit more expensive, | 0:12:44 | 0:12:48 | |
but I know it is going to work when I need it to. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
Alarmingly, Fake Britain has discovered | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
thousands of cheap fire blankets being sold, | 0:12:54 | 0:12:57 | |
many making false safety claims. | 0:12:57 | 0:12:59 | |
Whether they actually work is anyone's guess. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
To find out, later we will call in the professionals | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
and put a selection of them to the test. | 0:13:07 | 0:13:09 | |
We're just going to place it over. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:12 | |
Here on Fake Britain, we have shown you | 0:13:20 | 0:13:22 | |
how the fakers have infiltrated the high street, | 0:13:22 | 0:13:25 | |
the internet, businesses and even our homes. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:28 | |
But now they are literally getting under our skin. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
That's because tattoos are more popular than they have ever been. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
Look at these. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:37 | |
They are inks that a tattooist might use, but they are fake, | 0:13:37 | 0:13:40 | |
and that is a very serious problem. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:42 | |
We all know someone who has got one, because tattoos are now mainstream, | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
with high-profile figures from David Beckham to David Dimbleby... | 0:13:48 | 0:13:53 | |
-Ow! -..sporting ink on their skin. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
In fact there are over 10,000 tattoo studios | 0:13:56 | 0:13:58 | |
dotted up and down the country, | 0:13:58 | 0:14:00 | |
adding body art to the 1.5 million Brits | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
who get permanently inked every year. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:06 | |
Charging around £100 an hour, it is a multimillion-pound industry | 0:14:07 | 0:14:11 | |
that has seen massive growth in recent years. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
And that growth has been fuelled by the work of people like Louis Malloy | 0:14:14 | 0:14:17 | |
and his celebrity clients. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:19 | |
I have worked on quite a few famous clients, including the Beckhams, | 0:14:20 | 0:14:26 | |
Sir Bradley Wiggins, Andrew Flintoff, | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
I could go on and on, but I won't. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
With over 30 years' experience, | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
Louis is one of Britain's most respected tattooists | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
and is a master of his art. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:39 | |
But with the rising popularity of tattoos | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
he has seen a rise in fakes flooding the industry. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
I have seen examples of products | 0:14:47 | 0:14:49 | |
that are manufactured by European and American companies, | 0:14:49 | 0:14:53 | |
literally within weeks of them releasing those products, | 0:14:53 | 0:14:57 | |
the Chinese are then doing counterfeits. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
A long-time target of the fakers has been these tattoo machines. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:04 | |
Determined to make their mark, though, | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
the fakers have not stopped there. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:08 | |
We can reveal that they have moved on to tattoo inks, | 0:15:08 | 0:15:12 | |
something which alarms leading industry figures like Louis. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
When you move on to things like tattoo colours, | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
it's a whole different ballgame | 0:15:18 | 0:15:19 | |
because they're going into people's skin. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
You're dealing with an unknown quantity, | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
and it can be very, very dangerous | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
because you have got no idea what you are putting into your body. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:31 | |
One of the most popular and trusted brands of tattoo ink is Intenze. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:38 | |
A single one-ounce bottle costs around £10. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
That is, if it's the real deal. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:43 | |
This set of 14 Intenze inks, for example, | 0:15:43 | 0:15:47 | |
is on offer for the unbelievable price of £26 for the lot. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
As you know, we can't resist a bargain here at Fake Britain, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
so we snapped them up, and took them | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
to Intenze's sole UK distributor, Global Tattoo Supplies. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:02 | |
Boss Steve Crane sells these inks day in, day out, | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
and before he even takes them out of the packet, | 0:16:07 | 0:16:09 | |
he confirms that they may be cheap but they are also a con. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:13 | |
The fakes we can tell immediately. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
They would never be shrink-wrapped or packaged in this foil. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:20 | |
And, once he gets his hands on them, Steve's experienced eye begins | 0:16:22 | 0:16:25 | |
to uncover a trail of telltale signs that the fakers have left behind. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:30 | |
On the fake, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
the ingredients and the disclaimers | 0:16:32 | 0:16:34 | |
are all going into a tonal grey colour. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:36 | |
On the original, all of the ink on the label is the same tone. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:41 | |
No barcode information on the fake, but it is on the original. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:44 | |
Another giveaway is the colour tone. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
This is the original Mario's Light Blue. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:52 | |
Unfortunately, the fake is slightly darker, | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
so there wouldn't be any consistency for the tattoo artist | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
and the customer in getting an ongoing piece of tattoo art. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:05 | |
With the appearance so different, Steve is keen to see what this | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
means for the quality of the product inside. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
We are going to try the fake first of all. | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
All I will do is put a little drop of ink down on the paper. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:20 | |
Spread it around with my thumb. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:25 | |
As we can see, we have got quite a streaky consistency, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:29 | |
and it's spreading out quite a lot on the paper. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:32 | |
This is the original product. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:34 | |
We are going to do exactly the same thing again. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
Straight away, you see it's a completely different, | 0:17:36 | 0:17:40 | |
denser product, giving us a nice, bright finish | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
as opposed to the streakiness of the fake. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:48 | |
The difference between the real and fake inks is immediately clear. | 0:17:48 | 0:17:52 | |
What he is seeing makes Steve worried about the customers who end up | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
with this fake ink injected into their skin. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
There would be concern that the tattoo pigment itself | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
is so thin and weak that it would result in a bad tattoo | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
and also, the health risks associated | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
with any inconsistencies in the manufacturing and bottling | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
and the hygiene side of this product. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:16 | |
Years of research has gone into the genuine products | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
to make sure they are safe to use on human skin, | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
and comply with European regulations on the content of tattoo inks. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
The fakes are untested, and their true contents unknown. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:30 | |
What he's already seen is giving Steve serious cause for concern, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:35 | |
and as the ink dries, alarm bells begin to ring about the fake's | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
potential to cause serious harm. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:40 | |
The fake ink is just rubbing away and disappearing as we touch it. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:48 | |
The original one is not moving at all. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:52 | |
This is telling me that we have a good, strong, stable product. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:57 | |
Here, I don't know what we've got. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:00 | |
With the fake inks looking not just dodgy, but potentially dangerous, | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
it's time to get them tested and find out exactly what they contain. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
At the University of Loughborough, two chemists have agreed | 0:19:11 | 0:19:14 | |
to run a series of tests that will reveal once and for all | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
whether these are harmless inks, or a potential health hazard. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
Whilst Dr Matt Turner gets to work determining exactly what | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
chemicals the inks contain, a floor below, his colleague | 0:19:25 | 0:19:30 | |
is testing the fake's claim to be sterile. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
What I've done so far is to dilute the dye | 0:19:34 | 0:19:36 | |
in some liquid nutrient broth, | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
which is essentially, in layman's terms, bacteria food. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:43 | |
I'm going to swab onto an agar plate. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
What we will then do is incubate the plates | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
and we'll see if anything grows. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
If it was sterile, we should see nothing. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
The plates stay in the incubator for 48 hours | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
at a temperature of 37 degrees, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:06 | |
designed to replicate what would happen in the human body. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
When they are taken out, the genuine product is all clear, as expected. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:15 | |
But the fake white ink paints a very different, and scary, picture. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:20 | |
We saw that there was bacterial growth. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
It was quite shocking actually because you could | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
see there was certainly something growing in there. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
The dye is contaminated with some sort of bug. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
There are two families of bacteria present. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:36 | |
I suspect one is the streptococcal family, | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
and the other is the proteas family. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:41 | |
The streptococcal family includes the infamous hospital superbug MRSA, | 0:20:41 | 0:20:46 | |
and proteus bacteria are found in human and animal faeces, | 0:20:46 | 0:20:51 | |
meaning, far from being sterile, | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
these inks are being produced in squalid, unhygienic conditions. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:57 | |
Anyone getting a tattoo with these could be in serious trouble. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
If this particular dye is injected into the skin, | 0:21:00 | 0:21:04 | |
if it does get into the bloodstream, | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
then this could cause a variety of problems. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:09 | |
The worst-case scenario we're looking at is sepsis, where we | 0:21:09 | 0:21:13 | |
have got inflammation occurring due to the infection in the body. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:19 | |
This could potentially cause something fatal, | 0:21:19 | 0:21:23 | |
such as a heart attack. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
These findings mean that anyone being conned into buying these counterfeit | 0:21:26 | 0:21:31 | |
inks could end up administering a deadly dose to one of their clients. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:35 | |
The results from Matt's analysis of the contents are equally concerning. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:41 | |
On the top we have the genuine tattoo ink, | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
where we have just two major components. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
On the bottom we've got the fake tattoo ink, | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
where you can see there are several different components. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
We don't know what these components are, | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
or what they'll do once they get into your body. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
Using his years of experience to interpret these findings, | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
Matt fears what he's seeing in the fakes poses a real danger. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
These dyes could be industrial dyes that are used in paints | 0:22:05 | 0:22:10 | |
or clothing, and were never meant to come into contact with skin. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:14 | |
The worst-case scenario | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
would be these inks getting into your bloodstream, | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
the materials in the ink accumulating in your body, | 0:22:19 | 0:22:22 | |
and in your organs, and you get a severe allergic reaction | 0:22:22 | 0:22:26 | |
and it shuts your organs down. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:28 | |
The findings could hardly be worse, | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
with the fakes declared potentially lethal on two fronts. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:34 | |
For respected tattooist Louis Molloy, who campaigns against counterfeit | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
products, this time the fakers have gone too far. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
I think it's quite shocking that someone is prepared to make | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
something like that and sell it. It is wrong, it is very, very wrong. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
It should not be allowed. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:52 | |
People who manufacture counterfeit tattoo pigment | 0:22:53 | 0:22:57 | |
put profit over people's health. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
They are just scum, in my mind. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
While legitimate tattooists like Louis are appalled, | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
the number of people potentially using these products is on the rise. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
As we'll see later, councils across Britain are battling | 0:23:09 | 0:23:13 | |
to control growing numbers of fake tattoo artists | 0:23:13 | 0:23:16 | |
operating from backrooms and putting members of the public at risk. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
We don't know how you're operating. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:23 | |
The worry is about HIV, hepatitis, spreading disease. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
Earlier, we saw how thousands of fire blankets are being sold bearing | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
fake safety claims, with no proof that they are even up to the job. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:42 | |
If something does go wrong, | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
it's your local fire service who has to come to the rescue. | 0:23:47 | 0:23:51 | |
West Midlands Fire Service is one of the busiest brigades in the country. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
With over 20 years on the job, operations commander | 0:23:56 | 0:24:00 | |
Steve Harris knows just how dangerous kitchen fires can be. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:04 | |
Recently we had a fatal kitchen fire, so it's a serious situation. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:10 | |
We advise people just to get out and stay out and call us | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
to put the fire out for them. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
But, for the thousands who have fire blankets to hand, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
and use them to bring a fire under control, | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
they must at the very least be reliable and up to the job. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
Steve is shocked to learn that there are fakes on the market. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
If fire blankets turn out to be fake and don't do what they should, | 0:24:29 | 0:24:33 | |
then, yes, it could make the situation worse. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
Somebody might believe they are using a genuine product | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
to put a fire out, and actually it doesn't do the job, | 0:24:39 | 0:24:41 | |
makes the situation worse, puts that person in danger, | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
and then we have to go into the building to try to save their life. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
At the service's training base, Steve is getting kitted up | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
to put a selection of six fire blankets we've found | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
bearing fake safety markings through a real-life scenario. | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
This mobile unit is normally used to demonstrate to the public | 0:25:02 | 0:25:06 | |
just how lethal chip-pan fires can be. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:08 | |
Now, Steve is firing it up to discover how this lot perform | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
when the heat is on. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:14 | |
We're just going to place it over. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:15 | |
It quickly becomes apparent that, far from protecting themselves, | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
anyone relying on these fake fire blankets | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
could be putting themselves in serious danger. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
Clearly, that has not worked. It is still a substantial fire. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
That would have set fire to a kitchen now, | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
and you would have a significant property fire. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
I can't comment on the European standard. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
What I can say is that doesn't work. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
That does not do what I expect a fire blanket to have done. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:46 | |
The blanket has not cut off oxygen to the fire, | 0:25:46 | 0:25:48 | |
so we still have oxygen, we still have heat, | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
and we still have fuel, and we still have a fire. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
I'd be very worried that people are selling these | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
and the public are buying them, | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
assuming that they would put out a chip-pan fire. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
Our advice is to get out, stay out and call 999. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:03 | |
Then you're not in any danger. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
Five minutes in, the fire is still burning, | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
and the fire blanket's claims are clearly fake. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
The kitchen would have been destroyed by fire by now. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
On average, it takes around five minutes for a fire engine | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
to get to a property. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:19 | |
This has been five minutes and we still have a fire. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
So it is worrying. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
In fact, it takes more than eight minutes for the flames | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
to finally die out. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:28 | |
Something in this blanket has caused it | 0:26:29 | 0:26:32 | |
not to do what it is supposed to do. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
Some of this is heat damaged | 0:26:34 | 0:26:35 | |
and we would expect that from a blanket that has done its job, | 0:26:35 | 0:26:39 | |
but this one has just gone very, very brittle now. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:43 | |
As you can see, it did not do its job. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:46 | |
It did not work. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
Disturbingly, it's not the only one. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:53 | |
Almost instantly, the flames broke through this blanket and, | 0:26:57 | 0:27:01 | |
as you can see, there's still fire on top of the actual fire blanket, | 0:27:01 | 0:27:05 | |
so in essence, the fire blanket has not done anything. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
I certainly would not want to use that kind of fire blanket | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
in my property, | 0:27:11 | 0:27:12 | |
and I would not suggest that anybody buys a blanket of that standard. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:16 | |
Out of a sample of six, two have been engulfed by flames and had no effect. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:21 | |
But this test has taken place under more forgiving outdoor conditions, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:27 | |
and having seen them up close, Steve is not happy any of | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
these blankets could be relied upon in an emergency inside a property. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:35 | |
It appears it's a bit of a lottery as to which one works. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:38 | |
You don't know whether it works until you actually need it. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
You can't test a fire blanket. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
You use it, and it works or it doesn't, | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
and that is too much of a chance for me. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:48 | |
We showed John Crawford, who bought one of these fake fire blankets | 0:27:49 | 0:27:53 | |
to protect his young family, the results of this trial by fire. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:57 | |
I am very glad that I did buy another blanket. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:00 | |
It is quite scary, really, to see | 0:28:00 | 0:28:03 | |
the intensity of the flames after the blanket has been put on. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:07 | |
By trusting his suspicions, | 0:28:08 | 0:28:10 | |
John realises he may have had a lucky escape. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:12 | |
It is clearly quite dangerous, what is being done. | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
I think a good comparison is perhaps buying a car that claims | 0:28:15 | 0:28:19 | |
to have airbags and by the time you have an accident, | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
and you realise that no airbags were fitted, then it is clearly too late. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:27 | |
Earlier, we saw the fake tattoo inks for sale, | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
which could cause illness or potentially even death. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:40 | |
The worst-case scenario would be you get a severe allergic reaction | 0:28:40 | 0:28:44 | |
and it shuts your organs down. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:46 | |
The people likely to be using these products are not likely to be | 0:28:46 | 0:28:49 | |
reputable tattoo studios | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
but fake tattooists who are unregistered and inexperienced. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:55 | |
In Britain, a tattooist has to have been inspected by the local council | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
and awarded a registration certificate that declares | 0:29:00 | 0:29:04 | |
their premises hygienic and them fit to operate. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 | |
But in recent years, there's been a rise in fakers, | 0:29:09 | 0:29:12 | |
falsely claiming these credentials. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:15 | |
In Plymouth, they're fighting back with Operation Itchy, | 0:29:15 | 0:29:19 | |
a crackdown on illegal tattooists, known in the trade as scratchers. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:23 | |
Environmental Health officer Will Tomkins | 0:29:24 | 0:29:27 | |
is spearheading the operation. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:28 | |
We are here to execute a court order now, a property down the road, | 0:29:28 | 0:29:32 | |
where we suspect illegal tattooing is taking place. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
The powers we've got is power of entry to the property, | 0:29:35 | 0:29:38 | |
we've got powers for the occupant there to answer questions | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
relating to the illegal tattoo operation, | 0:29:42 | 0:29:44 | |
and we've also got powers to seize and destroy any equipment we find. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:48 | |
Will has got intelligence that a tattoo business is being run | 0:29:48 | 0:29:51 | |
out of this house by a man making fake claims | 0:29:51 | 0:29:54 | |
to his clients that he's registered to operate. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:57 | |
The key reason for us going in is concerns about public health. | 0:29:57 | 0:30:00 | |
The risks of tattooing when you aren't registered, | 0:30:00 | 0:30:03 | |
or when you haven't been inspected by us, | 0:30:03 | 0:30:05 | |
the risks of blood-borne infections, HIV, hepatitis, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:09 | |
are greatly increased, so we want to protect the public. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:12 | |
Will has seen first-hand the dangers fake | 0:30:13 | 0:30:16 | |
and unlicensed tattooists can cause. | 0:30:16 | 0:30:18 | |
Operation Itchy has already taken three scratchers off the streets. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
This victim was hospitalised for two weeks | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
after his tattoo became infected. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
With another scratcher in his sights, | 0:30:29 | 0:30:31 | |
Will hopefully will find enough evidence inside | 0:30:31 | 0:30:34 | |
to close this operation down before anyone else gets hurt. | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
KNOCKS ON DOOR | 0:30:36 | 0:30:39 | |
No-one's home. | 0:30:44 | 0:30:45 | |
Even though Will's warrant gives him power to force entry, | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
he has the tattooist's mobile number, | 0:30:48 | 0:30:51 | |
and this faker is about to receive a very unwelcome wake-up call. | 0:30:51 | 0:30:55 | |
I'm from Environmental Health at Plymouth City Council. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
We're at the property now. | 0:30:57 | 0:30:59 | |
All right, we'll see you when you get here. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:01 | |
Yes, I have just contacted one of the mobile phone numbers | 0:31:01 | 0:31:06 | |
we've got, so we're going to pick up the person | 0:31:06 | 0:31:08 | |
and they'll be back in half an hour. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:10 | |
I'm from Environmental Health. | 0:31:12 | 0:31:14 | |
We've come to see if you are running an illegal tattoo business. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:17 | |
As soon as he sets foot inside the premises, Will sees evidence | 0:31:17 | 0:31:21 | |
of the faker's illegal activity, and reads him his rights. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:25 | |
I will caution you now. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:26 | |
You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence | 0:31:26 | 0:31:29 | |
if you do not mention when questioned | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
something which you later rely on in court. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:33 | |
Formalities over, the search can begin. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:36 | |
With the risk of infection from dirty needles, | 0:31:36 | 0:31:39 | |
Will is not taking any chances. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
Put some gloves on and I'll have a look and see what we have got. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
There's everything needed here to run the faker's tattoo operation | 0:31:44 | 0:31:48 | |
from his front room. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:50 | |
We've got the needles in here. | 0:31:50 | 0:31:52 | |
And there's a sharps box in here as well. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:55 | |
Love Tattoos box containing tattoo machines. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:59 | |
Will and the team catalogue each item for evidence, | 0:32:00 | 0:32:03 | |
but the risk of infection from this potentially unhygienic kit | 0:32:03 | 0:32:07 | |
means they won't be holding on to it. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:09 | |
Everything we've got here is now going to be destroyed, | 0:32:09 | 0:32:13 | |
so we'll phone a waste contractor who will take that away. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:16 | |
As the search moves into the kitchen, | 0:32:16 | 0:32:18 | |
the team are looking for more evidence to confirm | 0:32:18 | 0:32:20 | |
that the faker's running a commercial tattooing operation, | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
and details in a diary could be vital evidence. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:27 | |
Is this one your diary? | 0:32:27 | 0:32:29 | |
-Yes. -OK. | 0:32:29 | 0:32:30 | |
I'm going to take this as evidence. | 0:32:31 | 0:32:33 | |
Proof of his illegal activity is mounting, | 0:32:33 | 0:32:36 | |
but the faker is still seemingly confused | 0:32:36 | 0:32:38 | |
as to why he's being targeted. Will spells it out for him. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:42 | |
Because you're operating unregistered, | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
you haven't had the inspection, | 0:32:45 | 0:32:46 | |
and the worries from our point of view is public health, | 0:32:46 | 0:32:50 | |
it is about HIV, hepatitis, spreading disease. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:53 | |
We can't be sure - any of the equipment there | 0:32:53 | 0:32:55 | |
could be contaminated because we have not inspected you, | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
we don't know how you're operating. | 0:32:58 | 0:33:00 | |
With the equipment confiscated, | 0:33:05 | 0:33:07 | |
it's another scratcher put out of business, | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
and, after reviewing the evidence, | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
Will can decide whether to haul the faker before the courts. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:15 | |
The fact is that we found equipment, | 0:33:15 | 0:33:17 | |
and we believe that person was operating illegally. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
Will's suspect will have to wait to find out his fate, | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
but it's a problem that stretches right across the country. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:28 | |
In Carlisle, fake tattooist Justin McKnight has been convicted | 0:33:31 | 0:33:34 | |
and is today facing sentencing for his crimes. | 0:33:34 | 0:33:37 | |
A mountain of evidence was amassed against McKnight, | 0:33:38 | 0:33:41 | |
following a tip-off from the genuine tattoo trade. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:44 | |
Environmental Health officer Scott Burns led the investigation. | 0:33:44 | 0:33:49 | |
When we went into the property we seized a large amount of items. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:53 | |
You can see we've got tattoo needles, | 0:33:53 | 0:33:56 | |
we've got the tubes that fit into the guns. | 0:33:56 | 0:33:59 | |
What's not here is any sterilising baths, | 0:33:59 | 0:34:02 | |
or any suitable cleansing wipes. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 | |
When the team entered McKnight's premises, | 0:34:06 | 0:34:09 | |
they found promotional material advertising his illegal business | 0:34:09 | 0:34:12 | |
and, more worryingly, a home tattoo studio, | 0:34:12 | 0:34:15 | |
where used inks and equipment were left lying around. | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
The hygiene and the cleanliness of the premises were poor. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
This is one of the needles that we confiscated from the premises. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:26 | |
The needles are still attached. | 0:34:26 | 0:34:28 | |
We'd hope that those would have been taken out and put in the sharps box. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:32 | |
The equipment itself should be covered. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:34 | |
There is a risk of contamination, | 0:34:35 | 0:34:37 | |
and we do know that one of the four people who we know had a tattoo | 0:34:37 | 0:34:42 | |
done by Mr McKnight had to be on antibiotics for a skin infection. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:46 | |
Not only was McKnight operating illegally, | 0:34:48 | 0:34:50 | |
but gaining clients and credibility | 0:34:50 | 0:34:52 | |
by making fake claims about his experience and expertise. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:56 | |
Mr McKnight was claiming that he had 22 years of experience, | 0:34:56 | 0:35:00 | |
and that was the claim he made on his website. | 0:35:00 | 0:35:03 | |
When we actually properly interviewed him under caution, | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
it transpired that that 22 years | 0:35:06 | 0:35:07 | |
was 22 years of him having tattoos himself, | 0:35:07 | 0:35:10 | |
not carrying out tattoos on other people. | 0:35:10 | 0:35:13 | |
It mentions on your website 22 years' experience. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:16 | |
Within tattoos, getting them myself. | 0:35:16 | 0:35:19 | |
He looked like the real deal. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:22 | |
He had all the facilities, but he was fake and he put people at risk. | 0:35:22 | 0:35:27 | |
Confronted with the evidence, McKnight pleads guilty, | 0:35:30 | 0:35:33 | |
and he emerges from court with a 100-day suspended jail sentence, | 0:35:33 | 0:35:37 | |
as well as an order to pay costs. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:39 | |
For Scott and the team, it is job done. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:44 | |
We're pleased with the result, | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
and we hope we've sent the right message out - | 0:35:46 | 0:35:48 | |
one, support your registered tattooists | 0:35:48 | 0:35:51 | |
because they've got the right facilities and equipment, | 0:35:51 | 0:35:54 | |
and don't support these fake scratchers, | 0:35:54 | 0:35:56 | |
because they can be very dangerous. | 0:35:56 | 0:35:58 | |
The fakers have already got inside our homes. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:07 | |
Now, they're inside our homes away from home. | 0:36:07 | 0:36:10 | |
There are more than a million caravans in the UK, | 0:36:10 | 0:36:14 | |
and a fun-filled holiday in one isn't complete, or hygienic, | 0:36:14 | 0:36:18 | |
without some of this stuff. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:19 | |
Toilet fluid, | 0:36:21 | 0:36:22 | |
specifically designed to stop the germs | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
taking advantage of the cosy conditions in the caravan loo. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:28 | |
But, you guessed it, this is fake, | 0:36:28 | 0:36:30 | |
and that means the happy holiday could turn into a health hazard. | 0:36:30 | 0:36:34 | |
Caravanning is a British obsession. | 0:36:37 | 0:36:39 | |
Over 1.5 million of us own one, | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
and as a nation we spend over £2 billion a year on caravan holidays | 0:36:41 | 0:36:46 | |
and the kit that goes with it. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:48 | |
This is our caravan, if you want to pop in and have a look around. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:54 | |
Barry Green and his wife Sue love their caravan. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
This is the lounge, seating area for ourselves and friends, of course. | 0:36:57 | 0:37:01 | |
We've got the kitchen here. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:02 | |
A double bed, and in here we have got the bathroom. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:06 | |
Keen caravanners for over 25 years, | 0:37:06 | 0:37:09 | |
they're very proud of their mobile home away from home. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
It's just getting away from normal normality really, I suppose. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:16 | |
You get into a little world of your own. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
It's just a really, really nice way of life. | 0:37:20 | 0:37:23 | |
We've got some really good friends, and we meet a lot of nice people. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:26 | |
While some of the kit that goes with the caravanning lifestyle | 0:37:28 | 0:37:31 | |
is a luxury, other things are essential | 0:37:31 | 0:37:33 | |
to keep these small spaces sanitary, | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
like this, antibacterial toilet fluid. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
Known as Elsan Blue, it's a popular choice amongst caravanners, | 0:37:39 | 0:37:43 | |
so when Barry and Sue saw some of it on special offer, | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
they snapped it up. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
We were on the Lincolnshire Centre Caravan Club rally | 0:37:48 | 0:37:52 | |
and we spotted one stall selling Elsan Blue. | 0:37:52 | 0:37:58 | |
We thought, "£9.99, that really is an excellent price," | 0:38:00 | 0:38:04 | |
so we decided to purchase it. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:06 | |
Selling at a third less than its normal retail price, | 0:38:06 | 0:38:11 | |
many others were also taking advantage of the bargain. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:14 | |
But Barry and Sue soon began to question | 0:38:14 | 0:38:17 | |
whether it had been money well spent. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:20 | |
After a couple of days of use, I thought, | 0:38:20 | 0:38:23 | |
"There's a bit of a whiff in here." | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
Every time I went in, I thought it smelled a bit like the sewer. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:31 | |
It seemed extremely thin and I thought, "This doesn't seem right." | 0:38:31 | 0:38:37 | |
I decided that I would take it up with the company. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
Barry e-mailed a letter of complaint, | 0:38:43 | 0:38:45 | |
along with photos of the offending bottle. | 0:38:45 | 0:38:47 | |
They were passed to boss Tony King, who knew straight away | 0:38:47 | 0:38:51 | |
that his company had fallen victim to the fakers. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
One of the things we first noticed was it was a five-litre bottle. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
We've never made a five-litre ourselves. | 0:38:57 | 0:38:59 | |
It was a straight clue that this was going to be a counterfeit product. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:03 | |
The problem for us was our reputation. | 0:39:03 | 0:39:05 | |
As Barry first thought, it might be an Elsan product, | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
and it's Elsan that's going to get the blame. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:10 | |
As an independent British company, who still manufacture everything | 0:39:10 | 0:39:14 | |
on site, over a century they have built up an impressive pedigree. | 0:39:14 | 0:39:18 | |
During World War II, all RAF bombers were equipped with Elsan toilets | 0:39:20 | 0:39:23 | |
and chemicals, and today they supply to several major airlines, | 0:39:23 | 0:39:27 | |
as well as the caravan trade. | 0:39:27 | 0:39:29 | |
The company was established in 1924, | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
and since then we have been developing new formulas | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
and new products to try and produce something | 0:39:35 | 0:39:37 | |
that's an extremely good product, the best on the market. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:41 | |
With an unknown quantity of the fake fluid now on the market, | 0:39:41 | 0:39:45 | |
it was not just their hard-won reputation that Tony feared | 0:39:45 | 0:39:48 | |
was at risk from the actions of the fakers. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:51 | |
There is a safety angle - Elsan Blue is extremely antibacterial, | 0:39:51 | 0:39:54 | |
and it's designed to kill all the bad bugs and germs in your toilet, | 0:39:54 | 0:39:58 | |
so when you come to dispose of the waste, you have got a reasonable, | 0:39:58 | 0:40:01 | |
safe chance of getting rid of it without catching anything horrible. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:04 | |
If you come into contact with human waste, it's an immediate health hazard. | 0:40:04 | 0:40:08 | |
Although the bottle looked convincing, | 0:40:08 | 0:40:11 | |
Tony feared what customers were being sold | 0:40:11 | 0:40:14 | |
was nothing like the genuine article. | 0:40:14 | 0:40:16 | |
And an initial inspection only seemed to confirm his fears. | 0:40:16 | 0:40:20 | |
You can see that they both look very different. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:22 | |
It is very obvious that the fake product is very thin, watery, | 0:40:22 | 0:40:26 | |
hardly any colour at all, | 0:40:26 | 0:40:28 | |
and the genuine product | 0:40:28 | 0:40:29 | |
is a nice dark blue and there is no comparison between the two. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:32 | |
This is probably just blue water. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:34 | |
It is criminal. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:36 | |
It is basically fraud, we think. | 0:40:36 | 0:40:38 | |
The bigger fear, though, is that, as well as being short-changed, | 0:40:39 | 0:40:43 | |
anyone who has been sold one of the counterfeit bottles | 0:40:43 | 0:40:46 | |
could be leaving themselves exposed to a range of gastrointestinal diseases. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:50 | |
So, to find out the effects of using both the real and fake fluids, | 0:40:53 | 0:40:57 | |
a leading microbiologist is testing their kill rate against E. coli, | 0:40:57 | 0:41:02 | |
a bug commonly found in human waste. | 0:41:02 | 0:41:05 | |
We take a quantity of living E. coli, | 0:41:07 | 0:41:11 | |
spread it onto the surface of an agar plate, | 0:41:11 | 0:41:15 | |
and then spot onto the plate the genuine product | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
and the counterfeit product, | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
incubate it overnight at 37 degrees centigrade, | 0:41:21 | 0:41:25 | |
and see what happens. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:26 | |
What appears on these plates will show to the naked eye | 0:41:28 | 0:41:32 | |
what would be taking place invisibly in bathrooms like Barry and Sue's, | 0:41:32 | 0:41:36 | |
where the fake is used. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:38 | |
As you can see, there is an obvious difference. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:42 | |
The clear circle around the genuine product on the left | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
means it's killed everything it has touched. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
But on the right, the spot of fake fluid has had no effect. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:51 | |
The E. coli is still growing unchecked. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
The counterfeit product has no antimicrobial activity at all. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:58 | |
If the product that they're using is not killing E. coli, | 0:41:58 | 0:42:03 | |
then it's not going to kill other pathogenic diseases, | 0:42:03 | 0:42:07 | |
in other words they will be present, and they will cause problems. | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
Gut disorders, | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
diarrhoea, | 0:42:12 | 0:42:13 | |
dysentery. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:14 | |
It's not doing the job. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:17 | |
No-one knows how many bottles of fake fluid have made their way | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
onto the market, and how many people have been put at risk. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:25 | |
But, having seen the results of the test, | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
Barry and Sue now realise they have had a lucky escape. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:33 | |
It's frightening to find that we were just using coloured water. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:39 | |
It is horrifying. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
Everybody knows it's there for a reason, | 0:42:42 | 0:42:44 | |
to protect you from diseases, | 0:42:44 | 0:42:47 | |
and how anybody could do this to you is unbelievable. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:51 | |
That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye. | 0:42:57 | 0:43:00 |