Swineshead woman, whose mum was killed in illicit cigarette fire, welcomes crackdown
Exclusive figures show last year 220,000 were taken off the County’s streets
Last updated 26th Apr 2021
A woman from Swineshead, whose mum was killed in a house fire caused by an illicit cigarette, is welcoming a crackdown by trading standards in Lincolnshire.
Exclusive figures show last year 220 thousand were taken off the County’s streets.
June Buffham died in 2012 after falling asleep whilst smoking an illegal brand.
Counterfeit products lack vital life-saving features which extinguish them if dropped.
Her daughter Julie fears the pandemic has led to a rise in sales as people struggle with money.
"I was in complete shock initially, obviously it’s your worst nightmare, your brain can’t comprehend.
"I went into the house the next day and saw the reality of the fire and what wasn’t left of my mums chair.
"We kept Dad away from that because I didn’t want him to see it."
Julie then went into protective mode.
"I didn’t want anybody to be blaming my Father.
"My Father didn’t go out buying cigarettes knowing they were going to do this to my Mum.
"But I know he did blame himself until his dying day."
Since then, Julie's become a passionate campaigner, all in her Mothers name.
"I know she would be proud.
"Two days before my Dad died of lung cancer in the Tulip Suite in Spalding he told me how proud he was of me.
"He made me make a promise that as long as I’ve got breath in my body that I will try and stop anybody else going through what we’ve gone through as a family."
Lincolnshire trading standards say a county-first initiative has shown great results as they fight to get illicit cigarettes off the street.
Officers found when they removed tenants, another would often take their place and offend again.
Operation Aladdin see's the focus shifted to landlords.
It's hoped doing so will cut off the supply.
Officer Andy Wright exclusively told us they've written to 36 and around half have been removed.
"As a starting point for sentencing it's a custodial sentence.
"It’s then mitigated from there.
"Although we’re trying very hard to work with landlords and they get multiple chances to work with us, at the end of the day, if they fail to do so, there really are some teeth attached to the offences that they can be charged with."
Some of the crafty places illicit cigarettes have been hidden
