Manchester City Council has successfully prosecuted a shisha cafe bar in Rusholme after customers were found smoking shisha on the premises.
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The prosecution of the Habibi cafe on Wilmslow Road, comes at a time when the council in partnership with NHS Manchester have embarked on a campaign to highlight the health risks associated with smoking shisha pipes as well as enforcing the smoking legislation which makes it illegal to smoke shisha in an enclosed space.
Illegal smoking was first revealed in a visit to the premises by city council officers along with police and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs officers in June 2011, and four warning letters were issued. A further visit in July led to the manager being interviewed under caution. Visits on three more occasions revealed that customers were still being permitted to smoke inside the bar.
At the Magistrates Court earlier this month the company was fined £2000 plus costs of £2074.63 and a victim surcharge of £15 totalling £4089.63 for permitting smoking in a smokefree place on two occasions after two offences were proved in the absence of anyone associated with the company turning up.
Councillor Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council’s executive member for the environment said: “We will not allow shisha cafe bars to flout the law. We will continue to crack down on these offences and target cafes that allow shisha smoking indoors. Our present campaign is highlighting the health risks of smoking shisha, which many people are unaware of, but as well as this we will be enforcing the legislation which means that anyone caught smoking indoors will be liable for a £50 fine.”
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