An OAP who broke lockdown by serving wine and mince pies – while thinking he was tier two not tier three – has been jailed. Maurice Snelling has been caged over the incident at a shooting club.
The 72 year old has been jailed after attempting to destroy evidence. He was the licence holder at a club in tier three during the coronavirus lockdown of late-2020.
He had claimed the club was in Tier 2 – which allowed customers to consume alcohol inside a venue if drinks were accompanied by a ‘substantial meal’. He did not respond to both emailed and written requests by Staffordshire Police to review CCTV footage, the court heard.
He contacted CCTV contractor, Welch Services, to ask for the hard drive to be removed from the system as the police closed in. Thomas Sherrington, mitigating, said: “My client is a man who is 72 and for many years ran a successful business and genuinely believed that the premises fell into Cheshire.
“This has tarnished his reputation. He believed he was targeted by neighbours and this built up resentment of a man with good character.” Mr Sherrington added that since the proceedings started his client’s health had decline and he had suffered multiple heart attacks. He added: “The prognosis is grim.”