Shop sold coats made from endangered animals

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Michael Moosah, whose shop Gale Furs, in Primrose Hill, has featured in Vogue and Tatler, was fined £1,000 after pleading guilty at City of Westminster magistrates court to trading the skins illegally.

Moosah, 65, of Camden, was arrested in October last year when officers from the Metropolitan Police's Wildlife Crime Unit swooped on his store following a tip-off.

They confiscated eight coats, including ones made from a snow leopard, a eurasian lynx, tigers and ocelots.

Commercial trade in any endangered species is banned under an international treaty signed by 171 countries including Britain.

Staff at the shop in Regent's Park Road insisted they had done nothing wrong as the coats were antiques passed on by customers.

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Gale Furs, in Primrose Hill, was fined after pleading guilty to trading the skins illegally

Wildlife groups today attacked the leniency of the sentence, which could have been five years' imprisonment and a £5,000 fine.

Heather Sohl, wildlife trade officer for the World Wildlife Fund, said: "This conviction is great news but the penalty does not seem to reflect the severity of the crime.

"Wildlife trade is driving many species to the brink of extinction and London plays a big part in fuelling this illegal trade.

"We need dedicated police support and tough sentences to deter wildlife criminals."

The conviction was part of a wider crackdown on illegal wildlife trade.

Since it started in 1995 officers have seized 30,000 items made from endangered species, all of which were on sale in London.

Andy Fisher, Head of the police's Wildlife Crime Unit, urged Londoners to support his officers by checking products they buy are legal.

Website www.ukcites.gov.uk features a list of endangered species.