A Belfast shop has been given an eight week ban from selling tobacco products in the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland.
Jonathan Martin t/a Cheepers on Woodstock Road , Belfast, was convicted of displaying and selling cigarettes to a child, and selling cigarettes without adequate health warnings in April 2019.
It followed a test purchasing exercise carried out by Belfast City Council.
Belfast City Council applied for a Restricted Premises Order to prevent the business from selling tobacco products.
Today at Belfast Magistrates Court, an order was made prohibiting the sale of any tobacco product or cigarette papers on premises known as Cheepers for a period of eight weeks, pursuant to the Tobacco Retailers Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.
A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said: “Belfast City Council is committed to ensuring that businesses in the city meet their required obligations under tobacco control legislation.
“All tobacco retailers in the city are visited at least once a year by a Council officer to explain their legal responsibilities around the sale of tobacco and to advise on what controls should be in place to prevent sales being made to anyone under the age of 18.”
For more of today's top stories in Belfast and beyond, click here.
Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.
Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.
Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .
