Following the nine-day trial, which ended this week, the UK unit of global e-commerce giant Amazon was fined £65.000 after a jury at Southwark Crown Court earlier found the e-tailer guilty of attempting to ship dangerous goods by air.
The prosecution was brought by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which presented four counts "of causing dangerous goods to be delivered for carriage in an aircraft,” offenses under the Air
Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002.
The four offenses, covered a period from January 2014 to June 2015, and related to shipments being flown within and out of the UK.
Dangerous goods found in Amazon UK Services Ltd shipments included lithium ion batteries and flammable aerosols. All the items were found and detained by Royal Mail screening staff, ahead of
their intended departure.
More charges are lying on file
“The safety of aviation and the public is paramount and that's why there are important international and domestic restrictions to prohibit the shipping of certain goods that pose a flight safety
risk," said Kate Staples, CAA's General Counsel.
“These dangerous goods include lithium batteries, which are banned from being transported as mail or cargo on a passenger aircraft unless they are installed in or packed with equipment," she
stated.
Amazon had faced 11 counts relating to the shipment of dangerous goods by air.
It was cleared of one charge while another six will lie on file after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on them.
Nol van Fenema
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