A market stallholder has been convicted of selling a vape to a child.
Ragdib Kapoor, of Shelley Crescent, London, sold a “Lost Mary Triple Melon” vape containing 20mg/ml (2%) nicotine to a 15-year-old volunteer during a test purchase at North Weald Market in Epping.
The sale took place during a November 2025 operation led by Essex Trading Standards. The vape was sold without any age verification or ID checks.
The operation followed a complaint about vapes being sold to children at the market.
All the retailers with stalls at the market received an advisory visit from Essex Trading Standards on 30 August 2025.
Mr Kapoor was fined £2,500 in his absence at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Friday, July 24.
He was also ordered to pay a £1,000 victim surcharge and £3,734 in costs, bringing the total to £7,234.
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Matthew Sanctuary, Trading Standards manager, said: "Sellers of age-restricted products, including vapes, must always ask for proof of age before selling to young people and ensure robust procedures are in place.
"This prosecution demonstrates how seriously we take this issue.
"Businesses that break the law in Essex will be targeted by Trading Standards."
Sarah Muckle, director of wellbeing, public health, and communities at Essex County Council, said: "Vaping is not for children and young people.
"Their developing lungs and brains mean they are more sensitive to its effects.
"Nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it is not risk-free.
"That's why there's a minimum age of sale for vaping products in the UK.
"It is illegal to sell nicotine vaping products to anyone under 18 or for adults to buy them on behalf of under-18s."
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