Sex shop owner fined (From Daily Echo)
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Sex shop owner fined
6:10am Monday 11th January 2010 in News
A SEX shop owner has been ordered to pay almost £11,000 after refusing to get a licence from the council.
Martin Hale was taken to court by Southampton City Council when he ignored warnings that he needed to renew a licence for his Adult Gift Shop in Howard Road.
Mr Hale, of Warren Crescent, challenged whether his shop came within the definition of a sex shop, denying that he needed a sex establishment licence.
But District Judge Calloway, sitting at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, ruled he had “no doubt in his mind” that the premises were a sex shop.
Mr Hale admitted three offences of trading without a licence. He was sentenced to fines totalling £6,000 and ordered to pay £4,973 costs.
The council charges a £7,500 fee for sex shop licence applications.
Mr Hale has now applied for a licence which is due for consideration at a meeting next month.
Comments(13)
hulla baloo
says...
7:25am Mon 11 Jan 10
How can this be justified?
password such-blue
freemantlegirl2
says...
7:58am Mon 11 Jan 10
Condor Man wrote:LOL!
is that the shop which has the notice- entrance only at rear?
I hope he gets refused a licence personally for thinking he's above the rules that all others have to go by.
How much trade do these shops get? with the advent of the internet I would have thought that trade was pretty much zilch?!
colinpickford1
says...
8:32am Mon 11 Jan 10
wilson castaway
says...
11:05am Mon 11 Jan 10
pull-lazy ha!
Unlimited* Service
says...
2:44pm Mon 11 Jan 10
colinpickford1 wrote:The City council probably needed to pay the huge salaries of a couple of enforcers and divided that salary bill by the number of so called sex outlets. I agree with your point about off-licences.
all jolly good fun but i would like to know how much the council charge other shops to trade in the city. If the charge is due to what the shop sells I think an offlicence should be charged say ten times as much as I'm sure a bottle of scotch is going to cause ten times the amount of problems as a tube of lube.
So just what do we get for our £7.5K?
pod
says...
3:02pm Mon 11 Jan 10
I wonder what dutch takeaway food tastes like, she said. Next to the chippy was 'a taste of amsterdam'.
must have a little chat with her!!
sotonbusdriver
says...
6:13pm Mon 11 Jan 10
SOUNDS LIKE A QUICK WAY FOR THE COUNCIL TO PAY FOR THE BISCUITS AND FRESH CREAM CAKES AT THEIR BOARDMEETINGS.. NO DOUBT PLAYING WITH THEIR ADULT TOYS AT THE SAME TIME. ????????
King Mush
says...
8:35pm Mon 11 Jan 10
Better than flogging cheap booze so that lowlife scum can get bladdered and cause mayhem on our streets.
Who cares what people do in the privacy of their homes - it hardly bothers anybody else. Other more liberated countries must laugh at us Brits
jimbobbo
says...
9:24pm Mon 11 Jan 10
sotonbusdriver wrote:Agreed. Rent, rates, licences, tax, subscriptions. Blah. Bloody council.
Charges of £7500pa for a licence to open a shop just because it sells ADULT products, behind closed doors, and thick blinds..
SOUNDS LIKE A QUICK WAY FOR THE COUNCIL TO PAY FOR THE BISCUITS AND FRESH CREAM CAKES AT THEIR BOARDMEETINGS.. NO DOUBT PLAYING WITH THEIR ADULT TOYS AT THE SAME TIME. ????????
I heard they will be taxing people to have a tom-tit in the near future.
tonibell
says...
9:32am Tue 12 Jan 10
Unlimited* Service wrote:I think it should have been the Council on trial here for Living Off Immoral Earnings.. Im Itailian and we have these shop all over Italy. I thought we were part of Europe but it seams just when it suits us. Hang your HEADS in shame SCC
colinpickford1 wrote: all jolly good fun but i would like to know how much the council charge other shops to trade in the city. If the charge is due to what the shop sells I think an offlicence should be charged say ten times as much as I'm sure a bottle of scotch is going to cause ten times the amount of problems as a tube of lube.The City council probably needed to pay the huge salaries of a couple of enforcers and divided that salary bill by the number of so called sex outlets. I agree with your point about off-licences. So just what do we get for our £7.5K?
colinpickford1
says...
9:44am Tue 12 Jan 10
King Mush
says...
4:06pm Tue 12 Jan 10
colinpickford1 wrote:Not forgetting the randy old Berloscuni in charge of the wonderful country!
Ahhhhhh. Now I know why so many of our wonderfull councilors holiday in Italy.
Condor Man says...
7:04am Mon 11 Jan 10