The owner of a Harrow shisha lounge will have to pay out more than £10,000 after breaching the smoking ban.
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Shawan Ali, director of KS Tobacco Ltd, which runs Smoking Aces, 1 Central Parade, Station Road, Harrow, was found guilty of two counts of failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free premises during a hearing last week.
Council officers posing as customers visited the shisha lounge on October 28 2012 and October 31 2012 and saw that people were being allowed to smoke shisha tobacco inside.
Mr Ali of Bollo Bridge Road, Acton, London claimed Smoking Aces was a ‘specialist tobacconist’ shop – venues which are allowed to let people smoke inside for the purposes of sampling tobacco products available for sale.
The Council did not agree with this and believed that the venue was in breach of smoking laws.
Magistrates at Willesden Magistrates Court on May 21 agreed with the Council and both Mr Ali and his company were found guilty of two offences under the Section 8 of the Health Act 2006.
They were both were fined £2,000 for each offence (£8,000 total) and ordered to pay Council costs totalling £2,620.
Mr Shawan Ali was not present in court for the hearing.
Harrow Council Portfolio Holder for Environment and Community Safety Cllr Asad Omar said: “This prosecution sends a strong message to other venues, which may think they can get away with breaking the ban on smoking indoors.
Harrow Council is committed to keeping our borough clean, green and safe, and will act as swiftly as possible act to hold to account anyone who flouts the law.”
