I'll still ignore smoking ban, vows publican fined £500

A SCOTTISH pub landlord vowed yesterday to continue to allow his customers to flout the smoking ban in England after being fined for offences at his bar in Blackpool.

Hamish Howitt, 55, who was born in Glasgow, was fined £500 and ordered to pay £2,000 prosecution costs after he admitted flouting the ban, which was introduced in England in July.

The owner of the Happy Scots Bar is the first publican south of the Border to be convicted of breaching the law. Howitt, a non-smoker, has been a staunch critic of the ban and set up a political party called Fight Against Government Suppression, or FAGS.

However, District Judge Peter Ward, sentencing Howitt at Blackpool Magistrates' Court, said his campaign had been "silly, misguided and pointless".

Howitt, who changed his plea before the start of a scheduled two-day trial, had faced a maximum penalty of £30,000 after he received 12 summonses.

Mr Ward gave him a two-year conditional discharge for the first seven offences committed and fined him £100 each for the remaining five.

The landlord was also ordered to meet the costs incurred by Blackpool Council, which brought the prosecution.

Referring to the new legislation, Mr Ward said: "That is the law and it has to be complied with. I suggest your campaign has been silly, pointless and misguided. It has achieved nothing. All it seems to have done is cause a great deal of problems for yourself. I do not intend to make a martyr of you by imposing swingeing penalties."

Trevor Colebourne, defending, said Howitt's campaign had been against the government, which he believed had "reneged on its manifesto" that had promised exemption from the law for pubs not serving food.

Howitt said after the case: "We're all going back to the Happy Scots Bar now for a smoke. Someone has got to stop this law, otherwise it will go through like a juggernaut. I was advised today I did not have a skeletal argument to plead not guilty on human-rights grounds, but I won't give up. I'll keep fighting to take this all the way."

Howitt added that he had no intention of paying the financial penalties and was prepared to return to court. Ian Fowler, Blackpool Council's member for business services, said: "I am delighted that this situation has been resolved and Mr Howitt has finally pleaded guilty."

TRIAL PENDING

THE first person to face court charges for flouting the smoking ban in Scotland, introduced in March last year, is believed to be still awaiting trial.

John Wraith, 67, is accused of not putting out his cigarette when asked at the Burnett Arms Hotel in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, in January.

Hundreds of fixed penalty notices have been issued to individuals and several dozen to premises since the ban came in last year.

Those in control of no-smoking premises face a £200 fixed penalty if they do not take reasonable action to prevent someone smoking. Individuals face a £50 fine.