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A MAN who imported more than 1,000 unsafe scooters and e-bikes has been handed a suspended sentence after being prosecuted by Islington Council.

Sardar Rassa had imported the e-bikes and scooters from China – and was advised to return them after they were flagged at a port in Suffolk in November 2021.

Mr Rassa assured officials that the scooters were legally compliant, and moved them to a storage facility in Islington.

The Town Hall’s Trading Standards team ordered Mr Rassa to carry out appropriate product safety testing, but when he failed to do so the council itself commissioned testing.

This revealed serious safety failings, ranging from improper labelling to critical component failures.

Two hundred and forty-three e-scooters and scooters were seized but authorities do not know what Mr Rassa did with the remaining stock.

Islington’s community safety chief, Councillor Angelo Weekes, said: “Unsafe e-scooters can pose a real danger, and we have zero tolerance for unsafe products in Islington.

“We take tough action to protect our residents and ensure their safety.”

He added: “Thanks to the hard work of our Trading Standards and Legal Services teams, this importer has been held to account.”

Mr Rassa was given a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months.