Yorkshire eBay trader jailed for selling rogue slimming pills

David Green of Wickersley, Rotherham, supplied the medication which contained ephedrine - used to treat colds and flu - without prescription, said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

He ignored MHRA warnings about the dangers involved and continued to sell the slimming pills from his website and on internet auction site eBay.

The MHRA later seized several hundred bottles of the capsules. Their investigation found he made 13,200.

Green, 44, pleaded guilty to advertising and selling the pills without a licence at Sheffield Crown Court.

He also admitted possession of a medicine with intent to sell without the required licence.

Danny Lee-Frost, MHRA head of operations, said: "The products being sold by Mr Green have undergone no quality control and he continued selling these products even after he was made aware of the dangers of what he was doing.

"This is yet another example of the danger of buying any type of drug from an unregulated source.

"You simply don't know what you are taking, the dosage, the conditions it was made in or most importantly, the effect it might have on your health."