Fine Over Smoking Ban

A billionaire nightclub owner who hired Cherie Blair to challenge the smoking ban has been fined for breaching the legislation.

Dave West, owner of the Abracadabra restaurant and HeyJo erotic-themed club in central London, vowed to flout the ban when it was introduced on July 1 last year.

Westminster City Council brought a prosecution against him after environmental health officers twice visited his bar last August and reported he was permitting customers to smoke.

Mr West and his company, Jewelite Trading, fined a total of £2,000, with costs of £5,591, after being convicted at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court for allowing smoking within an enclosed premises.

Mr West, who last year hired Ms Blair to advise him on how to challenge the ban in the High Court on human rights grounds, denied the charges and plans to appeal against his conviction.

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