A hotel owner has been prosecuted for smoking a cigarette in her property while nobody else was there.
Jump to full article: Electronic Telegraph (uk), 2008-08-07
Author: Chris Irvine
Intro: Patricia Coupeland was given a 12 month conditional discharge by Blackpool magistrates after she admitted smoking on a smoke-free premises.
Ms Coupeland, 50, of the Cheers Hotel in Blackpool, told a court the hotel was closed at the time and not taking in guests.
She said: "I was in the dining room doing my paperwork and having a cigarette. It was closed as a hotel at the time and was therefore my private home. There were no guests. I only had a friend stay. The health officer came across as vicious and a person with attitude."
Victoria Cartmell, prosecuting for Blackpool Council, told the court that on February 1 environmental health officer Alan Taylor arrived at the hotel to carry out a hygiene inspection.
. . .
"The defendant confirmed it was a smoke-free hotel, but said it was her own home and she was free to smoke in her own home.
"The officer said smoking in her private quarters was okay, but not in the bar."
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