Staffordshire hairdresser fined £15,000 after breaking lockdown rules
Environmental health officers gave her an initial fine of £1,000
Last updated 1st Dec 2021
A hairdresser from Rugeley has been fined £15,000 after she was prosecuted for breaching Covid-19 restrictions during the last national lockdown.
On 20 January 2021, Nicola Watts left her home to visit a customer's house where she carried out her services as a mobile hairdresser.
When learning that she breached coronavirus restrictions, Environmental health officers issued Ms. Watts with a £1,000 penalty notice.
After the fixed penalty was not paid, Cannock Chase Council were forced to prosecute Ms. Watts instead.
On 17 November 2021, Ms. Watts failed to enter a plea and was found guilty at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates' Court.
She was subsequently fined £15,000, and made to pay costs of £85 as well as a victim surcharge of £190.
Councillor Val Jones, Portfolio Leader for Community Engagement, Health & Wellbeing, said:
“Tragically, 1,820 deaths and 38,905 cases were recorded on the very day that this offence was committed, the worst day of the pandemic in the UK. Whilst people were staying at home to protect the NHS and to save lives, a very small minority ignored the restrictions.
"It has been an incredibly difficult time for businesses, made worse by competitors who continued to operate instead of doing their bit.
Many people have suffered during the pandemic including those who have lost loved ones, those still recovering from the disease, those who have lost businesses, and the key workers who have given so much whilst working on the front line. It is for those people that taking this action is important.”