Firms fined for Covid breaches
AHAIRDRESSER and car wash owner have both been fined after pleading guilty to breaking coronavirus rules.
The Stockport businessmen were prosecuted at Tameside Magistrates Court for offences committed towards the end of last year.
Chris King, of Chris King Barber Shop, in St Petersgate, had been ordered to close by the council following complaints over a lack of social distancing and both staff and customers not wearing PPE.
The salon also reportedly failed to display a QR code or keep customer details for the Test and Trace system.
Mr King accepted that wearing face masks and visors was a legal requirement but continued to operate without one despite repeated advice from the council’s pandemic response team.
The direction to close was issued on December 23, but the salon was seen to be open for business the following day and on December 30
At the time, Stockport was at a high level of alert in Tier 3.
Mr King pleaded guilty to the offences in court on July 15. He was fined £1773, ordered to pay a £117 victim surcharge and £1258.74 in costs - a total of £3148.74.
Amir Alii, owner of Show and Shine Hand Car Wash, on Edgeley Road, Cheadle Heath, also appeared in court after he continued to operate contrary to government restrictions.
As in Mr King’s case, this was despite previous warnings from the council’s pandemic response team.
On November 5 officers found the business was still trading, despite regulations requiring hand car washes to remain closed until 2 December 2020.
They spoke to Mr Alii and requested he close up which he did.
However, further lockdown regulations came into force on January 6, meaning hand car washes had to shut again.
On visiting, officers again found the business was operating. They spoke to Mr Alii and asked him to close the car wash - warning of the consequences should he continue to operate.
But they saw that the car wash was trading again on February 3 and 4, and served Mr Alii with a £1,000 fixed penalty notice on February 5.
The next day, officers witnessed the car wash still operating, and a second fixed penalty notice was served. Both these fines went unpaid, leading to the court action.
Mr Alii pleaded guilty to continuing to operate a restricted business and was fined £1,773.00, as well as being ordered to pay a £117 victim surcharge and £654.25 in costs - a total of £2,544.25.
Councillor Sheila Bailey, cabinet member for Sustainable Stockport, said: “These breaches of the restrictions were committed when there were many Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths and we were on high alert Tier 3 of local restrictions.
“Despite repeated visits, advice and warnings from our pandemic response team, these two business owners still blatantly chose to ignore the rules laid out by the government to help stop the spread of Covid and protect the community.”
Coin Bailey added: “I’d also like to thank the vast majority of Stockport businesses that made huge sacrifices to help keep our community safe and protected by doing their utmost to curb the spread of the virus.”