Healer fined over medicinal claims

Many of the products were sold online

A businessman who sold products claiming to cure diseases such as arthritis and cancer has been fined £2,000.

Spiritual healer Ian Perkins, 56, from Hammersmith, west London, admitted 14 charges under the Food Safety Act and one charge of breaching the 1939 Cancer Act.

He was charged under food labelling regulations for not complying with the proper checks on any food claiming to have medicinal properties.

Swindon magistrate's court heard how the town's trading standards officers had come across Mr Perkins's web site for his company, 'Nature's Gold', last May.

'Vulnerable group'

The firm, run by Mr Perkins and his wife, sold a variety of food supplements which it was claimed could treat, prevent or cure a range of diseases and conditions, including cancer.

There was no evidence presented in court relating to the veracity of these claims.

Prosecuting, Phillip Worth told the court: "The prosecution views these offences very seriously because people who are suffering from such illnesses are a particularly vulnerable group.

"And you have a high obligation indeed to them."

Mr Perkins was also ordered to pay £1,552 costs.