Hairdresser who kept her salon open during lockdown finally forced to close
A hairdresser who refused to close her salon during lockdown has been forced to close and summoned to court.
Sinead Quinn racked up £27,000 in fines by continuing to serve customers and even cited the Magna Carta in an attempt to stay open.
Police and PCSOs frequently visited Quinn Blakey Hairdressers in Oakenshaw, near Bradford, West Yorkshire but Quinn defied their pleas for her to shut up shop.
Kirklees Council has now issued a closure notice and applied for a court order to forcibly shut the premises.
The notice means customers are not allowed in and failure to comply could result in a further fine or up to three months in prison.
A closure order has also been applied for under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which would make it a serious offence for anyone to enter the premises.
Quinn was initially fined £4,000 for repeated breaches and placed a sign in her shop window quoting the Magna Carta.
Council officers then issued her with a further £10,000 worth of penalties after she continued trading.
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The salon had previously been slapped with a fines of £1,000 and £2,000 for defying government orders to close from 5 November in the face of rising Covid-19 cases.
Earlier this month, Quinn posted videos on Instagram showing her arguing with council officials who had visited her salon to see if it was complying with the rules.
In one video she told officials that she did not “consent” to being fined and cited “common law”.
Kirklees has among the highest coronavirus infection rates in England with a rate of 446.4 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to November 19.
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Kirkless councillor Paul Davies said: “I completely understand the frustrations of local business owners and thankfully the overwhelming majority of them have complied with the national lockdown and closed to help us overcome the virus.
"This pandemic has been devastating for a vast number of reasons, including the impact it has had on people’s livelihoods.
“The lockdown rules put in place by the Government are there so we can lower our infection rates, ease pressure on our health services and to ultimately save people’s lives.
"The actions taken by this business owner, and those who have given her custom during this period, have been illegal, selfish and reckless.
"The business owner has wilfully endangered herself, her customers, the wider community and our staff.
“We don’t want to fine our businesses or take action like this against them, particularly after such a difficult year.
"However, we have given this business every opportunity to do the right thing and public health must come first. We have been left with no choice."
Watch: Shop owners tell police they will not close for lockdown
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