BIKERS are warned to check their helmets after a man was sentenced for selling 'potentially lethal' Chinese motorcycle helmets online.
Shocking photos released by Trading Standards show the damage incurred by the counterfeit lids after they failed safety tests. Any biker in an accident wearing these helmets would have received an impact 'six times more forceful' than permitted by law, Trading Standards officers reported.
The helmets were supposed to undergo five impact test but were already destroyed after the second, by which time they would be passing G-forces of 1,000 to the wearer (the legal limit is 275 G).
The red and black lids were branded Jiekai JK1000 and were found to buckle when squeezed by hand. The chin straps could also be ripped off.
A Trading Standards officer described them to Visordown as 'next to useless' and 'potentially lethal'.
The helmets all bore an authentic-looking hologram safety sticker that could easily fool an untrained eye.
The dangerous helmets were discovered during a raid of a warehouse belonging to Moortaza Walji from Peterborough. Walji was selling the lids through his own trading name Bargain World UK Ltd as well as a number of other retailers.
At Peterborough Crown Court he pleaded guilty to 15 charges including the sale of unsafe motorcycle helmets. He received a six-month suspended sentence and 180 hours' community service. He must also pay costs of £13,000.
Trading Standards has contacted around 30 customers to make them aware.
All of the counterfeit helmets will now be destroyed. Judging from the one in our picture, it won't be difficult.
Visordown reported on the helmets being seized last year.
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