Gym owner loses his appeal against lockdown penalty
FINE FOR OPENING IN BREACH OF COVID RULES
A COURT has dismissed an appeal from strongman Eddy Ellwood to have his convictions overturned.
Gym owner Ellwood returned to Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday to try to overthrow the £30,000 fine he was handed in April, for keeping his Hartlepool gym – Xtreme Fitness – open when everyone was ordered to stay at home. He was found guilty of four counts of breaching Covid rules.
The former Mr Universe said his gyms were open to allow people to stage a peaceful protest against the Covid restrictions and also to help people suffering from mental health problems. But Judge Marie Mallon slammed Ellwood’s defence during his trial, telling him it was a “preposterous submission” that the purpose of attending was to protest.
She said: “No one but the people there would know about it. There is ample evidence of people using the gym equipment and wearing gym clothes. An abundance of evidence in this case that the gym was open.”
Ellwood was given 12 months to pay his fine and ordered to pay legal costs totalling more than £25,000. In a hearing in December last year, Ellwood told Judge Timothy Stead that while watching TV, he had heard Matt Hancock say he himself had only “broken Covid guidance and not the law”.
He said this too was the case for his breaches, and he would call Mr Hancock to give evidence at his appeal.
Judge Stead told Ellwood he would have to put his request for the witness to be called to court in writing to the court, to the prosecution, and to Mr Hancock himself.
Ellwood nodded and said he would also give evidence himself at his appeal: “I am an expert witness,” he said.
“An expert in what exactly?” asked the judge. “In the health and fitness industry,” said the ex-world champion bodybuilder. The judge warned Ellwood that calling witnesses and proceeding with his appeal “could potentially be expensive”.
In February, Judge Paul Watson said it would not be in the interests of justice for Mr Hancock to give evidence.
On Wednesday, the gym owner was told all four offences were proved and the appeal against his convictions were dismissed. After the case concluded, Ellwood told The Gazette the protest followed the death of a gym member who had taken their own life in the first lockdown; he said another was sectioned. Ellwood branded the court’s decision as a “travesty of justice”.
He said: “Yesterday was a travesty of justice. We the owners of the gyms are the all-round experts. We are councillors that listen, educators that teach, the gym is a hospital for healing and it is some people’s church for worship, it most certainly is essential.
“Nobody suffered on account of my actions, there was no victim of any crime. There was no feasible reason to force a prosecution five months after lockdown had lifted. The authorities chose to persecute and make an example of me for my opposing beliefs and political opinions.
“I acquired a legal representative that did not represent my evidence in a clear way and I was subsequently given £56,000 in penalties. I am innocent of any wrongdoing so I appealed.”
Mr Ellwood said during the appeal he was confident he had proven his case and claimed the justice system is broken.