A mum-of-two from Skelmersdale has been jailed for four years and four months after operating an illegal Facebook "shopping channel" selling counterfeit goods. Barbara Murphy, 49, used the storage room of her home to run the operation under the name 'Barbie Murphy', with hundreds of boxes stacked to the ceiling and scattered across the floor.
The boxes were full of fake items ready to be sold. The court heard that 1,134 items worth £45,000 were seized bearing "unauthorised copies of registered trade marks". Among the items were nearly 400 pairs of Nike trainers and almost 180 pairs of Ugg boots.
Court hears of fraudulent trading
Murphy sold fake clothes at a fraction of the retail prices, with brands including Moncler, Armani and Gucci available through her social media store. Other items included Jo Malone perfume sets and football tops. She operated her 'Barbie Murphy' account from 2021 to 2025.
Prosecutor David Traynor suggested that aside from the prices, there was no other indication that the items were not genuine. Sentencing Murphy at Preston Crown Court on Thursday October 8, Recorder John Richard Jones KC said: "You knew the items you were selling were counterfeit, but you did not make that known."
Warning letter ignored
Companies House shows Murphy opened an incorporated retail business under the same name in 2021 alongside her 23-year-old son, Leo Tucker. Murphy became the sole director of the company Barbies Boutique after Leo resigned in November 2022.
In March 2022, a Trading Standards officer sent Murphy a letter following a referral from Lancashire Police after she was pulled over by police while driving a vehicle containing "counterfeit items". The court heard the letter "warned" her against selling counterfeit products.
Operation moved to WhatsApp
Murphy later told her 12,000 followers she would be permanently closing her Facebook page, claiming it had become "too risky". She said she would be moving her operation to WhatsApp and Telegram. Barbie's Boutique LTD was dissolved in June 2024 but Murphy is said to have continued trading until June 2025.
The court was told Murphy benefited £492,379.61 from her actions. She pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent trading. Alastair Reid, defending, told the court Murphy started her career running a "successful business" selling "legitimate" children's clothes online and through a market stall, but the covid-19 pandemic forced her to shut it down.
Mr Reid said this was when she became "aware" of the opportunity to sell counterfeit goods. The court heard she was provided clothes by merchants in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester. The court was told if a person asked if they were fake, Murphy would "admit" they were counterfeit. Mr Reid also argued that even though it was never implied the items were fake, the "prices were too good to be true".
He told the court that the only reason she continued trading was to pay off the "debt" she now owed to her suppliers, who she felt "intimidated" by. Murphy is currently on state benefits and in council accommodation. She was also handed a confiscation order, ordered to pay a victim surcharge, and told the items that were seized would be destroyed.
