London borough secures £14k fines for shisha cafes and directors

Two shisha cafés and their directors have been fined more than £14,000 for operating illegally, following a prosecution brought by the London Borough of Brent.

The council has been campaigning for local authorities to be given greater powers to tackle “lawless” shisha cafes which it claims have been increasingly blighting neighbourhoods with violence, drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

Brent has urged the Home Secretary to introduce new legislation that recognises shisha as a licensable activity by law so that local authorities can better regulate them.

Its latest prosecutions involved Habaybna on Wembley High Road and Arnika on Craven Park Road in Harlesden.

Emaad Mohammed Altae, director of Habaybna, was ordered to pay a total of £2,050 in fines and costs and the company fined £4,173 after being found guilty of a number of offences at Willesden Magistrates Court on 27 June.

These breaches include failure to comply with smoke-free legislation and a number of tobacco related offences. Both Altae and Habaybna had been convicted of smoke-free violations in 2014.

Arnika and its operators were meanwhile ordered to pay a total of £8,075 in fines and costs after a visit by Brent enforcement officers in November 2016 found customers smoking inside, along with illegal tobacco products.

Those responsible for the running of the venue - Mohamed Topaefandyari and Rohallah Toopa Esfandiary - were ordered to pay a total of £1,300 each (a fine of £1000, costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £100). Mohamed Mohamed Abukar, who was in charge of the day to day running of the venue, was ordered to pay a total of £1,370 and the company was fined a total of £4,105.

Both premises had previously received warnings from the council, but chose to ignore them, Brent said.

Cllr Tom Miller, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities at Brent, said: “This is yet another warning to owners of shisha cafes who don't obey the law and we continue to take action prosecute all venues and their owners who do not comply.

“But there is only so much local authorities and the Police can do within the current legislation. Our enforcement team are working extremely hard to tackle rogue shisha venues in the borough but we need the right tools at our disposal to shut these venues down for good.

“We need the Government to give us the powers to take a zero tolerance approach to lawless shisha cafés so we can clamp down on these unlicensed, unaccountable shisha venues and make our borough safer for everyone.”