A FORMER Dudley Council project manager and his wife who pocketed more than £180,000 in just 16 months running a highly profitable “factory” turning out counterfeit goods at their Sedgley home have avoided spending time behind bars.

Simon and Joanne Geddes were involved in the sale and supply of bogus goods and clothing which they offered for sale from a website called babysmiles.co.uk which breached trademark regulations, said Mark Jackson, prosecuting.

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court the counterfeit items included T-shirts, gym bags and pencil cases that were made to order using specialist equipment in the couple’s Eversley Grove home.

Simon Geddes was working in the council’s ICT department at the time and a computer belonging to a councillor - which he had taken without permission -  was being used in the counterfeiting racket.

Mr Jackson said payments into their internet banking account for the trademarked goods exceeded £182,000 and £160,000 went into Simon Geddes account while a further £20,000 went into his wife's account.

Joanne Geddes, aged 42, who was responsible for the day to day operation of the business admitted 23 charges of making and possessing counterfeit goods with a view to sell, possessing equipment to make counterfeit goods and money laundering.

Simon Geddes, aged 44, pleaded guilty to 11 charges of aiding and abetting her in the running of the racket and one charge of money laundering.

Mr Jackson told the court T-shirts bearing the logos of One Direction and JLS were test purchased on the website and checks later revealed they had been supplied by babysmiles.

When the couple’s home was searched by Trading Standards officers, they recovered other counterfeit goods with trademarked images including Disney, Hello Kitty, Little Mix and Justin Bieber, while other items had been packaged and were ready to post.

The laptop that was being used in the business bore a Dudley Council badge and when it was forensically examined it was clear it had been used as part of the counterfeiting operation but there was no evidence it had been used for council business.

When interviewed Joanne Geddes, a former bank worker, said she traded on eBay and Amazon but did not think she was hurting anyone and she was making a profit of around £500 a week.

She said she downloaded images from the internet and used a heat press to dye the images onto the product using a process called sublimation.

She added that the business had been running for seven years and stressed she had no idea how much of the £180,000 that had been paid into the babysmiles account was profit as it would have been used to pay bills.

Simon Geddes, who now works as an accounts manager for BT, said the money she made was family income, his wife did all the banking and he did not play an active role in the business.

He said he had shown her how to do things on Photoshop in the early days before trademarks came into it adding “I was her partner in marriage but not in business.”

Recorder Sandra Bristoll told the pair it was serious offending because counterfeiting was stealing from the rightful owners of the trademarks.

She gave them both a 15 month jail term, suspended for two years, and they were both ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work.

Joanne Geddes, who cried in the dock during the hearing, was placed on supervision for nine months.

Stephen Hamblett, defending Joanne Geddes, said the business had not been set up as an illegal enterprise adding, “She ventured into a field she ought not have done out of naivety. She did not do the appropriate checks that she should have done.”

Simon Hanns, for Simon Geddes, said the prosecution had been an “incredible learning curve” for the couple.