Rain blamed for smoking breach

Prosecutions and Claims |
01.04.2008

A private members' club has been prosecuted for breaching the smoking ban after licensing officers paid an unexpected visit in November last year and discovered several members smoking.

The manager of the Fat Cats club in Southend told magistrates he had telephoned the club's owner to ask if a woman in a wheelchair could smoke inside the club because it was raining and the metal fire-escape - the designated area for smokers - was slippery and dangerous.

The owner agreed and the woman was given an ashtray.

Club manager Bernard McKeown told the court: "Other members complained - how come she could get an ashtray and why should they stand out in the rain?
 
"It put me in an awkward position, so I acted on my own and decided to put out a few ashtrays."

McKeown and the club's owner, Ian Langley, both pleaded guilty at Southend Magistrates' Court to failing to stop customers smoking.

Langley was fined £500 and ordered to pay £228 costs. McKeown was fined £100 and ordered to pay £100 costs.