A company that owned a property that was used as an illegal shisha café has had £174,074 income confiscated after breaching a planning enforcement notice – and has also received a hefty fine.
T&M Property Investment Ltd – the owner of a 999-year lease for the property at 82 Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, which it let out – has also been ordered to pay a fine of £18,750, along with courts costs of £5,700 after the property was found operating as an illegal shisha café.
T&M Property Investment Ltd was sentenced following a guilty plea at a Manchester Crown Court hearing on Friday 5 May to offences committed under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Working alongside Financial Investigators from Salford City Council, the Proceeds of Crime act 2002 (POCA) was also used, which allows the court to issue confiscation orders for money generated by illegal activities.
The confiscation order on T&M Property Investments Limited of £174,074.79 is payable by 4 August 2023. The fine and court costs are also payable by 4 August 2023.
In September 2018 Council enforcement officers became aware that Dubai Café, operating from the building owned by T&M Property Investment Ltd, was being operated as a shisha bar in contravention of planning permissions in place for the premises.
Officers also noted that physical changes had taken place inside the premises, undertaken without the appropriate planning permission.
An enforcement notice was therefore issued which ordered the landlord to cease the operation as a shisha café and remove all works that did not have planning permission.
Despite numerous attempts by the Council to secure compliance with the notice, including entering the premises on two occasions to seize shisha pipes and tobacco, it was still being used as a Shisha café more than four years later.
Councillor Gavin White, Executive Member for Housing and Development, said:
“These premises had been operating illegally as a shisha café for a number of years and despite receiving enforcement notices from the Council to stop, they continued and have now been held to account through the courts.
“Local residents have had to put up with this criminal activity for too long and this judgement – along with the confiscation of their illegally obtained profit – sends a clear message to other businesses flagrantly breaking the law that we are looking for you and we will prosecute. This case also shows that landlords can’t hide behind their tenants – they will be held responsible for criminality in their property.
“Operating a premises without the correct permissions is not only illegal but can also be dangerous. It’s a welcome result following months of hard work to bring a prosecution and ensure this property is safe.”
