A café owner has been prosecuted for a second time after customers
were again caught smoking shisha in his premises.
Tahir Tufail, owner of
Rendezvous Café on Clarendon Road appeared at Leeds Magistrate Court on Wednesday (January 7).
A number of customers
were found smoking shisha pipes in the café on 29 May 2014 despite measures
Tufail had put in place after his original prosecution in May 2013.
Following the first
offence, Tufail created an outdoor smoking area and asked customers to put
pipes aside on entering the café.
However, customers were still found smoking
indoors on the day in question, an offence made illegal under the Health Act
2006.
Magistrates gave Tufail
a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay a £300 contribution to
costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for cleaner, stronger and safer
communities said:
“While steps to comply
with the legislation had been taken in this case, we simply cannot allow people
to break the law without any consequences.
“The smoking ban is well
established and it’s up to responsible business owners to ensure they and their
customers observe it.
“Many people aren’t
aware of the harm shisha can cause. It’s not a safe alternative to smoking
cigarettes and poses a serious health risk so as well as enforcing the ban
we’ll continue to make sure people are aware of the health risks of smoking
shisha.”
Shisha smoking involves inhaling
smoke from flavoured tobaccos through a waterpipe.
Advice issued by the
World Health Organisation (WHO) states that smoking a shisha pipe for one hour
involves inhaling 100 to 200 times the amount of smoke inhaled with just one
cigarette.
The WHO advice also
dispels the myth that smoking through water renders it safe – even after
passing through water, the smoke produced by the pipes contain high levels of
toxins.
In reality shisha smoke contains carcinogens in similar levels to
ordinary tobacco smoke but, as a consequence of the way the tobacco is burnt, the
level of carbon monoxide is much higher.
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact:
Amanda Burns, Leeds City Council press
office (0113) 395 1577
email: amanda.l.burns@leeds.gov.uk