AN ACCOUNTANT has been told to pay more than £8,000 for selling fake hairdryers, one of which burst into flames.

Maddison Hawk was prosecuted by Oxfordshire Trading Standards over counterfeit GHD-branded products she bought from China.

The 27-year-old of Mallard Drive, Witney, sold fake hairdryers and straighteners on the Amazon.co.uk marketplace through her Witney-based hair extension business, Perfect Strand.

Our top stories

Earlier this year, a national newspaper reported that Hawk had spent £25,000 on what she described as her plastic surgery “hobby” in a bid to get dream body – all before her 25th birthday.

It was reported that she had spent the money on a number of cosmetic treatments including chemical peels, lip fillers, regular teeth whitening and a £4,800 breast enlargement.

Yesterday at Oxford Magistrates’ Court, Hawk admitted four trademark offence charges on behalf of her company and a single offence of selling a product which breached safety regulations.

Prosecutor Sunyana Sharma said a trading standards officer posing as a customer bought four sets of hairdryers and straighteners from Perfect Strand on May 10 this year for £384.

She said they bore the logos and branding of national firm Good Hair Day – commonly known as GHD – but after checking with the company it was “very clear” that the products were fakes.

Miss Sharma said two of the gift sets were sent to be tested by experts and one of the hairdryers caught fire within seconds of being switched on.

She said: “The appliance was operated under store conditions for 30 seconds.

“Several seconds later it started to emit smoke.

“After 10 seconds the appliance caught fire, which continued after it was turned off.”

She added that this was partly because the hairdryer was missing a part which would have turned it off as it started to overheat.

Miss Sharma said: “The appliance burst into flames because it did not have a thermal cut off, and for that reason it was deemed unsafe.”

Oxfordshire Trading Standards team leader Anu Prashar, who prosecuted the case, said a real customer could have been seriously injured.

She said: “It was extremely lucky that this happened during a test, rather than when somebody was using the product on their hair, as it could have resulted in serious injury.

“People may be tempted when they spot cheap designer-branded products online and think that they are the genuine product.

“Unfortunately, as this case shows, there are sellers out there who take advantage of this.”

James Reilly, defending Hawk, said the defendant had been “naive” and believed the products were genuine merchandise.

He added that she had suffered from depression and her company was now in the process of being wound up.

Hawk was told to pay a £2,500 fine and a total of £5,838 costs.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.