A Cardiff shop owner has been caught selling vapes to children and has been fined thousands of pounds. Jihad Abass Subhan, who runs the Corner Mini Market on Cowbridge Road East in the Canton area, was targeted as part of a Trading Standards sting operation.
Trading Standards officers used volunteer children to enter the shop and request vapes and other harmful nicotine products. The investigation found that children were repeatedly allowed to purchase these products.
In March 2025, Subhan received a warning from officers of the Shared Regulatory Service after failing a test purchase. He was given a warning letter and guidance. However, the shop owner continued to sell harmful nicotine products to children and was caught again the following month.
When officers returned to the store after the test purchase in April last year, Subhan apologised and claimed he had been distracted because he was on the phone at the time of the sale. He was then questioned about the required checks, including Challenge 25, but was unable to explain the basic procedures.
Subhan and his company were sentenced at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, June 9. Subhan, who failed to attend his sentencing hearing, was fined £2,000 in his absence and was also ordered to pay an £800 victim surcharge and £426 in costs. The company, Corner Mini Market, for which Subhan is the sole director, was also fined £2,000 and ordered to pay an £800 victim surcharge and £426 in costs.
Cllr Ed Stubbs, cabinet member with responsibility for Shared Regulatory Services at Cardiff Council, said: 'Mr Subhan was warned not to continue selling nicotine products to children and, despite this advice, chose to carry on. Nicotine products are harmful to people’s health, which is why laws are in place to restrict their sale. All shop owners are legally responsible for the products they sell, so this significant fine should send a clear message that proper checks must be carried out before selling nicotine products to customers.'
