THE owner of an Indian restaurant denied trying to con customers after consumer watchdogs discovered he was selling bogus gin disguised as a market leader, York magistrates heard.

Tessa Clarke, prosecuting for York trading standards, said City of York Council food safety officers discovered the mystery liquid in a bottle purporting to be Gordon's Special Dry London Gin at the Himalayan Restaurant, at The Mount, York.

Ms Clarke said the officers visited the restaurant on December 12, 2003, and bought three doubles of gin for £9. The gin was taken from a bottle labelled Gordon's and was sent to the public analyst. His report revealed the liquid inside the bottle was not the genuine Gordon's article.

Syed Mohfuz Ali, who had run the restaurant for six years, claimed he had bought the bottle sealed with others from a shop in The Mount, York, which had lost its alcohol licence. But the receipt he produced as proof for the purchase was handwritten on paper with the restaurant's name on, no indication of the seller, the words "alcohol £150" and two signatures. It did not include any reference to Gordon's Special Dry London Gin, said Ms Clarke.

Ali, 40, of Spencer Place, Leeds, pleaded guilty to using a false trade description and was conditionally discharged for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £300 towards the council's £646 prosecution costs.

His solicitor, Sandra Keen, said: "He bought it in good faith and sold in good faith." However, the law stated that Ali himself had to make sure it was the genuine article, and, therefore, he had pleaded guilty, although he did not believe he had done anything wrong.

She handed in a cash-and-carry receipt listing Gordon's Special Dry London Gin. This, she said, came from the owner of the shop who sold Ali the gin, and showed that the shop had bought the gin in good faith.

Ms Keen said Ali himself had had no reason to doubt that the contents of the bottle were anything other than Gordon's Special Dry London Gin. The handwritten receipt was for his accounts.

She said at the present time Ali was taking no money out of the business for his personal use because it was not doing well.

He and his wife and six children lived on state benefits, which she received. The solicitor also handed in medical reports showing Ali had had health problems for six months.

Updated: 09:57 Saturday, April 16, 2005