Cafe fined for indoor shisha

Environmental health officers from Kirklees Council discovered ash, cigarette ends and burning shisha coals at the Sirocco Cafe in Commercial Street, Batley, in July this year.

Owner Ijaz Rayaz was found guilty of failing to prevent smoking in a public place on Tuesday.

Rayaz did not attend the hearing at Kirklees Magistrates Court but was found guilty by magistrates in his absence.

Prosecuting for Kirklees Council, Michael McCabe said environmental health officers visited the cafe with police officers at around 10.15pm on July 6 and could smell shisha smoke in the air, although no-one was smoking when they entered.

Mr McCabe said there were three shisha pipes in the corner of the cafe, and coals found in a nearby bucket were still hot.

A bowl on one of the tables had cigarette ends in it, and cigarette ends and ash were found scattered on the floor throughout the cafe.

A gas barbecue was also being used to heat shisha coals and a small room next to the cafe’s kitchen contained around 16 shisha pipes.

Used tin foil and other refuse associated with shisha pipe smoking was also found in bins in the cafe.

The cafe had no smoking area and the fire exit was padlocked shut, with no evidence of anyone going outside to smoke.

Both Rayaz and the cafe’s manager, Asif Badat, were asked to attend an interview with officers at the council, but neither attended nor replied to the letter.

Magistrates convicted Rayaz of the offence in his absence and sentenced him to a £600 fine, £596 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Shisha pipes allow users to smoke flavoured tobacco coals through water pipes, producing large clouds of sweet smelling smoke.

Smoking shisha coals is an age-old Arab custom and is popular in Middle Eastern communities.

The 2007 law banning smoking in public places also applies to shisha pipes, forcing shisha cafes to close or build an outdoor smoking area.

Health experts have also warned that smoking the pipes can be more harmful than smoking cigarettes, as shisha pipe smokers inhale more smoke.

According to Cancer Research UK, a typical hour-long shisha session can see users inhale the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 cigarettes.