Company fined for supplying potentially fatal travel adaptors to Worthing town centre store

Fonua Ltd, based in Leopardstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two charges at Worthing Magistrates’ Court after a West Sussex Trading Standards investigation, the council said.

The council said the company was supplying the ChargeWorx branded world travel adaptor to Game Retail Ltd, better known as Game, which has a store in Worthing’s Montague Quarter.

Trading Standards officers bought the adaptor, the council said, and tests showed several safety failings including the risk of electric shock.

Fonua Ltd was fined £5,000, as well as paying costs of £1,025.12 and a victim surcharge of £170, said the council.

Peter Aston, Trading Standards team manager, said: “These travel adaptors failed safety testing which means they could cause electrocution and potentially death to an unsuspecting user.

“We usually advise people to only buy electrical products from a recognised brand or high street retailer but disappointingly as this case proves, that doesn’t always guarantee safety.”

The council said Fonua Ltd recalled the products once informed of the results of testing.

This prosecution was part of a wider Trading Standards project looking at the safety of travel adaptors.

A spokesman for Trading Standards said anybody who has concerns about the safety of a travel adaptor they have bought can let them know by calling Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service on 03454 040506 or by visiting www.westsussex.gov.uk/tsreport