Bar owners prosecuted for shisha smoking
Two company directors who turned a carpark into a shisha bar where customers smoked, have been fined by magistrates.
Ghulam Qadir Butt and Mohammad Yasir Khurshid turned what was a former office car park into the coffee and shisha bar.
Premises open to the public are required to be smoke free in all enclosed and substantially enclosed areas. Smoking in premises which are open to the public, or a place of work, is contrary to the requirements of the Smoke-free (Premises & Enforcement) Regulations 2006 and Health Act 2006.
A hearing was held at Reading Magistrates’ Court where the directors of The Palm Lounge, Park Street, Slough, Mr Butt, 33, and Mr Khurshid, 41, were convicted of an offence under Section 8 of Health Act 2006 for failing to prevent smoking on their premises.
The pair did not attend and the hearing and it was dealt with in their absence on 15 November.
The court was told that customers at The Palm Lounge were smoking shisha pipes when a joint operational visit was made by officers from the council’s food and safety team, trading standards, the licensing team with support from Thames Valley Police on 21 March, 2019.
The magistrates said: “We are satisfied that this is a shuttered building for the purposes of the Act and therefore there has been a breach under Section 8 of the Health Act. We find the defendants guilty as they have not stopped customers from smoking within.”
The bench also stated they were concerned the defendants had failed to take notice of the advice and warnings given by the council’s environmental health officer, or attend any legal interviews, including the court case.
Each director was fined £2,500, the maximum penalty, ordered to pay the full costs of the council £2,628 and a victim surcharge of £170.
The court ordered the fines and costs to be paid within 28 days and a collection order was put in place in the event of a failure to pay.
Sarah Hill, Senior Environmental Health Officer, said smoking laws were in place to protect members of the public who visit public bars as well as the staff.
She said: “Shisha is just a different way of smoking and is just as harmful as smoking other forms of tobacco. Shisha smokers are at risk of developing the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smokers - heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease. It is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
“A typical 60 minute session involves inhaling 100 times the volume of smoke inhaled with a single cigarette.
“The most common types of shisha still contain tobacco and nicotine and the charcoal used to burn both tobacco and herbal shisha is a source of two toxic chemicals, carbon monoxide and benzene.
“Sharing mouthpieces can also increase the risk of transmitting infections such as tuberculosis and an increased risk of colds, flu, oral herpes, mouth and gum disease.”
Ghulam Qadir Butt and Mohammad Yasir Khurshid turned what was a former office car park into the coffee and shisha bar.
Premises open to the public are required to be smoke free in all enclosed and substantially enclosed areas. Smoking in premises which are open to the public, or a place of work, is contrary to the requirements of the Smoke-free (Premises & Enforcement) Regulations 2006 and Health Act 2006.
A hearing was held at Reading Magistrates’ Court where the directors of The Palm Lounge, Park Street, Slough, Mr Butt, 33, and Mr Khurshid, 41, were convicted of an offence under Section 8 of Health Act 2006 for failing to prevent smoking on their premises.
The pair did not attend and the hearing and it was dealt with in their absence on 15 November.
The court was told that customers at The Palm Lounge were smoking shisha pipes when a joint operational visit was made by officers from the council’s food and safety team, trading standards, the licensing team with support from Thames Valley Police on 21 March, 2019.
The magistrates said: “We are satisfied that this is a shuttered building for the purposes of the Act and therefore there has been a breach under Section 8 of the Health Act. We find the defendants guilty as they have not stopped customers from smoking within.”
The bench also stated they were concerned the defendants had failed to take notice of the advice and warnings given by the council’s environmental health officer, or attend any legal interviews, including the court case.
Each director was fined £2,500, the maximum penalty, ordered to pay the full costs of the council £2,628 and a victim surcharge of £170.
The court ordered the fines and costs to be paid within 28 days and a collection order was put in place in the event of a failure to pay.
Sarah Hill, Senior Environmental Health Officer, said smoking laws were in place to protect members of the public who visit public bars as well as the staff.
She said: “Shisha is just a different way of smoking and is just as harmful as smoking other forms of tobacco. Shisha smokers are at risk of developing the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smokers - heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease. It is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
“A typical 60 minute session involves inhaling 100 times the volume of smoke inhaled with a single cigarette.
“The most common types of shisha still contain tobacco and nicotine and the charcoal used to burn both tobacco and herbal shisha is a source of two toxic chemicals, carbon monoxide and benzene.
“Sharing mouthpieces can also increase the risk of transmitting infections such as tuberculosis and an increased risk of colds, flu, oral herpes, mouth and gum disease.”
