Lockdown Rebel tattooist vows to reopen next week
ABISHOPSTON tattooist has vowed to reopen his studio despite the business being fined £1,000 for breaching lockdown.
Aron Walton refused to close his Gloucester Road parlour Holey Skin after the second coronavirus lockdown was imposed on November 5, saying he did not “consent” to the rules.
He kept the business open for more than a week, but Bristol City Council and police used a locksmith to force entry on November 13, issuing a fine and seizing equipment.
Mr Walton said in an Instagram video on Wednesday: “I’m gonna be back open.
“I’ve been shut this week because I’ve had a lot to do with this paperwork and stuff. I’m gonna have the studio back open Tuesday.
“I’ve still not got my equipment back yet. I’m in the process of dealing with something to do with that now anyway.
“I will be open to discuss people’s bookings and book people in and explain to them in person my next things that I’m doing and what way I’m tackling this.”
The tattooist told customers to expect usual opening hours, vowing to “start things back to normal”.
He added: “We’ve been shut not because the police shut us down, but because they took my tattooing equipment and I had to get the paperwork sorted.”
A council spokesman said: “We’re monitoring this situation and will take further action if necessary.”
A senior environmental health officer handed Mr Walton a £1,000 fixed penalty notice on November 13, as her team seized six pieces of his equipment.
The council said the action came after “persistent breaches of Covid-19 rules despite repeated requests to comply”.
Days before Holey Skin was raided, Mr Walton told a police officer he would “be issuing £10,000 fines for any more visits” from the authorities. He claimed police had attended seven times during the second lockdown.
But at least nine police officers and several council officers were joined by a locksmith at the studio on November 13.
An Avon and Somerset police spokesman said: “A man was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace before later being de-arrested once the warrant had been completed.”
Mr Walton has presented arguments against lockdown which appear to be rooted in the “freeman on the land” conspiracy theory.
Its proponents say laws only apply to someone with their consent. No such argument has ever succeeded in court.
Common law is created by the judiciary through its decisions in the courts, under the principle of binding precedent.
But it is overruled by the statutory laws written and passed by Parliament, such as the Covid legislation, under the constitutional principle that Parliament is Sovereign.
Lockdown laws say non-essential businesses like tattoo studios must close.