A SHOPKEEPER who swindled customers with potentially dangerous counterfeit booze has been ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community.

Salman Isbir, of Wimborne Road, was found guilty along with his wife Elif Gunduz of six charges of selling counterfeit wine and four charges relating to the sale of illegal Drop vodka.

Bournemouth Magistrates fined Gunduz, the mother of three young sons, £2,065 in total for her part in the ploy.

Yesterday Isbir returned to the court to be sentenced.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community over the next 12 months The bench also revoked Isbir’s liquor licence and ordered him to pay a total of £2,402.50 in fines, compensation and court costs.

The court had previously heard that 36 bottles displaying fake Jacob's Creek labels were seized from Isbir UK Ltd shops in Old Christchurch Road and Wimborne Road during inspections in June, August and December 2011.

A bottle of Drop vodka was found to contain about 25.3 per cent alcohol – well below the 37.5 per cent required to sell it as vodka – and contained the harmful chemical methanol.

Isbir also sold 125 bottles of the vodka for around £800 to brothers Hamza and Harun Oturak for their West Howe kebab shop.

The court heard Isbir, 42, was then the business owner, while Gunduz, 42, was company secretary. The pair have now separated.

Magistrates Christopher Davidge said: “We consider you were the major party because you did the book and were involved with the purchasing.”

Speaking afterwards Andy Sherriff, trading standards manager for Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “I am pleased to see the end of this long running case which has taken up a substantial amount of the courts time.

“We are very pleased for the Oturak brothers who were tricked into buying counterfeit alcohol and were brave enough to come to court and speak out.

“Now Mr Isbir has had his personal licence revoked he can no longer be involved in selling alcohol but we will continue to monitor his business activities and would remind anybody in business to check the source of their products before putting them on the shelves.”