A hotel director was hoarding so many fake designer goods it took Trading Standards officers five hours to gather them after a police raid.
Douglas Piggott had amassed fake-brand items at the Dalhousie Hotel in Carnoustie after the business hit a post-Covid downturn.
A court heard he had taken them from customers as “collateral” against rising bar tabs.
Logos such as Nike, Adidas, Apple and Jimmy Choo were on the fakes.
Had they been sold as genuine brands, they would have been worth £40,000, Forfar Sheriff Court was told.
Piggott, 66, also ran a drug dealing operation from the hotel with his son, for which he is yet to be sentenced.
Adidas, Nike and Apple
Piggott, of East Haven, near Carnoustie, appeared for sentencing over the fakes after admitting 20 charges at a previous hearing of stashing the counterfeit material.
He was sentenced to complete 150 hours unpaid work and his hoard was forfeited.
The court was told police raided the hotel for drugs on March 2020 and called in Trading Standards upon finding the fake goods.
Such was the volume, back up was requested and it took five hours to remove it all.
He told police he was holding the items “as collateral to ensure loans he gave to people were repaid.”
The bootleg goods found at the High Street hotel included 21 pairs of “Adidas” trainers, 27 pairs of fake Nike trainers and 54 two-piece women’s gym outfits, with phony Nike branding.
Three handbags purporting to be made by Jimmy Choo and three fake Radley bags were discovered, as well as 17 pairs of fake Timberland boots.
As well as the fashion items, 97 phone charger adaptors, 84 lightning cables and four pairs of earphones were discovered illegitimately bearing Apple’s official logo.
He admitted possessing the items with a view to selling or hiring them.
Fake goods given to pay off bar tabs
A solicitor for Piggott said his client began trading at the hotel in 2003 and enjoyed a decade of success before periods of ill-health hit him and his wife and then the Covid pandemic affected the whole industry.
He said: The business having been in decline from initial success meant a different form of trading developed in the premises.
“Agreements (with clientele) were made for loans and credit would be offered from the premises, which wasn’t always followed through and he found himself at a loss.
“He was trying both to maintain a clientele and maintain business in trying circumstances and was operating at a subsistence level.
“What became a practice at that time was that individuals who couldn’t make good on their credit would offer items as collateral.
“They would be in debt to the premises by running up a tab – people would give him these things.”
He said it was not Piggott’s initial intention to sell any of the goods.
Drugs operation
Last month, Douglas Piggott appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and cocaine at the hotel.
He was arrested in the police raid, when police uncovered £16,000 of cash inside the hotel, plus thousands of pounds worth of drugs in the boot of Piggot’s BMW, parked outside.
He is due to be sentenced later this month.
Bracken Piggott was jailed for 14 months being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possessing cocaine.
Months after the raid, Douglas Piggott surrendered his premises licence and the hotel ceased trading.
Last summer, plans were approved to convert the building into holiday flats.
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