A restaurant owner who argued ‘every shisha place up and down the country is exactly the same’ after permitting smoking in an enclosed premises has been fined for the second time within 12 months.
Ibrahim Marashi, the owner, and Kaleem Afridi, the manager, of Fayrouz Lounge in Neeld Parade, Wembley, close to Wembley Stadium, were convicted at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on October 21 of breaking the smoke-free laws.
Marashi, of Hartfield Avenue, Elstree, was ordered to pay £4,000 in fines and £1,000 and Afridi, of Row Walk, South Harrow, £2,000 in fines and £955 in costs in a prosecution brought by Brent Council.
In July a man was convicted of a causing grievous bodily harm following a brawl outside a shisha cafe in Acton, west London, that left one man dead and another fighting for his life.
Enforcement officers from the council visited the venue on January 24 at 6.30pm and found customers had been supplied with shisha pipes and were smoking in the substantially enclosed seating area at the front of the restaurant, which serves Middle Eastern cuisine.
The manager, Afridi, claimed that he did not know that smoking was not allowed here and that he would not have allowed it had he known. However when the enforcement team members returned at 11.35pm a number of customers were still seen smoking in the area.
Council officers dropped by four days later and still found a number of patrons puffing away on the flavoured tobacco. These customers were handed on-the-spot fines and Marashi and Afridi were prosecuted.
Neither defendant attended court but in a letter to magistrates Marashi said: “Every shisha place up and down the country is exactly the same.”
It proved the second time within a year that Marashi had been convicted for the same offence.
In December last year, he was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £800 in costs to Brent Council.
Councillor George Crane (Labour), the council’s lead member for environment, said: “Smoking in enclosed places damages the health of staff and non-smoking customers.
“After two prosecutions for three separate contraventions, the council would be concerned if this trader continues to sell tobacco for use in a substantially enclosed areas.
“If this were to continue to be the case, the trader could face more serious consequences if necessary to protect the health of workers and non-smoking patrons.”
In Hounslow, the owners of YOLO Lounge in Heston were ordered to pull down a shisha marquee by an enforcement notice issued by Hounslow Council.
And last year Ealing Council shut an Acton shisha cafe after ignoring warnings.
