Court orders fake medals and poppy pins man to return funds

A Derbyshire man who admitted making and selling fake military medals and supplying unauthorised poppy pin badges more than four years ago has been ordered to hand over £58,000 following a court ruling issued on Wednesday 16th October.

33 year old Henry Lyttel, of Ashbourne Road, Mackworth Village, near Derby, received a two-year suspended jail sentence in June 2020 at Derby Crown Court after admitting three charges relating to his business, Croft Militaria Ltd, which he ran from his home address.

The charges, which he admitted at an earlier hearing in May 2020 were of:

• Running a fraudulent business
• Supplying a poppy pin badge that was in breach of a trade mark held by the Royal British Legion, and:
• Having in his possession for supply badges with the poppy emblem in breach of a trade mark.

The successful prosecution of Lyttel, brought by Derbyshire County Council’s trading standards team, resulted in the two-year jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and an order to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. Lyttel was also disqualified from acting as a director of a company for five years and had a curfew imposed for six months.

Derbyshire trading standards officers, working with military medal experts, estimated that Lyttel’s business made in excess of £72,000 in sales of fake medals, which included fake Military Crosses, fake Distinguished Flying Crosses and fake Air Force Crosses, and around £10,000 in the sale of fake poppy pin badges which he was not authorised to sell.

Following the sentencing in 2020 Proceeds of Crime proceedings were started to try to recover the money made by Lyttel and his Croft Militaria Ltd business.

While a Confiscation Order for £97,980 was secured, at the time Lyttel was only able to pay just over £2,000.

Derbyshire County Council Trading Standards as an enforcement body activated their powers to ‘revisit’ the original order in June of this year, with the assistance of Derby City Council, and through an accredited financial investigator, detailed enquiries found that Lyttel had £58,000 of available funds.

After being formally approached by trading standards, Lyttel consented to hand over the funds. As a result a revised Confiscation Order was granted yesterday at Derby Crown Court.

The arrangements will ensure that £10,000 of the money is recovered directly to the Royal British Legion (RBL) in compensation for the losses suffered by the charity as a result of Lyttel’s sales of fake poppy pin badges carrying their trade-marked poppy emblem. The remaining £48,000 will be transferred to the Home Office, with a proportion to be returned in due course to the council to contribute to the prosecution and confiscation costs incurred since 2018.

Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Health and Communities Councillor Carol Hart said: “This was a truly despicable crime as it deprived the Royal British Legion of money through the sale of unauthorised poppy badges which should have gone to support armed forces veterans, and also saw names of armed forces heroes who had been awarded the highest honours for their bravery used to sell fake medals for a profit.

“Those buying the medals put their trust in the seller that they were buying the genuine article and had that trust abused, being conned out of thousands of pounds.

“Our trading standards officers put hours and hours of hard work into this complex investigation and I am glad to see that they have carried this through to the end and managed to recover some of the funds dishonestly obtained through these crimes. It is to be greatly welcomed that the money which should have gone to the RBL donated by people in good faith will now reach its intended recipients.”

A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said: “The Royal British Legion has registered the Poppy logo as a trademark and will take every step to defend the poppy from misappropriation, taking legal action where necessary.

“The RBL offers a number of poppy products and accessories which raise much-needed funds to support our Armed Forces, veterans and their families in their time of need. By donating for poppy branded merchandise on our website or through our official corporate partners, the public can rest assured that their money will go towards supporting the Royal British Legion’s vital work.”

Military historian and medal expert Mark Smith (MA OMRS), who is often seen on TV screens offering advice and valuations, took part in the initial raid on Lyttel’s home with trading standards and police officers and examined the medals.

Mr Smith said: “At the time I was amazed to find what could only be described as a medal factory. A shed in the garden contained hundreds of faked medals, cap badges, shoulder titles and helmet plates. It was an incredible array of exceptional quality fakes, covering many regiments and units from all ages - literally hundreds of them.

“I was appalled as this undermines the medal and badge collecting hobby and deprives collectors of hard-earned money for out and out fakes. More importantly it is stealing the memory of very gallant servicemen who had fought, possibly been wounded and in some cases died.

“I was glad to be able to support the efforts in bringing this person to justice and welcome the fact that some of the funds will now be recovered thanks to the determination of all involved.”