Amazon fined for trying to ship dangerous goods by air

The retailer was convicted at Southwark Crown Court earlier this week of four counts of causing dangerous goods to be delivered for carriage in an aircraft, a breach of air safety regulations.

The items included lithium ion batteries and flammable aerosols, which were destined for flights within and outside the UK in four shipments between January 2014 and June 2015.

They were only discovered when the cargoes were screened by Royal Mail ahead of their intended departures and seized before they could reach the aircraft.

The prosecution for the dangerous goods found in Amazon UK Services Ltd shipments was brought by the Civil Aviation Authority under the Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002, which outlines how such items must be handled when transported by air.

This includes how they must be classified, packed, marked, labelled and documented - as well as the dangerous goods training which must be completed by the people sending them.

The court heard Amazon tried to ship a lithium ion battery to Jersey on a day before January 7 2014, and a flammable gas aerosol to Romania on a similar date.

Another shipment, destined for Ireland on a day before July 17 that year, contained another aerosol, while Amazon illegally tried to send two more lithium ion batteries to Northern Ireland between May 12 and June 3 last year.

Amazon had faced 11 counts relating to the shipment of dangerous goods by air.

It was cleared of one charge while another six will lie on file after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on them.