A pensioner has been jailed after attempting to destroy evidence that linked him to breaking lockdown rules by serving mince pies and wine at a shooting club.
Maurice Snelling held a licence for Cloudside Shooting Grounds when residents raised concerns that the club was breaching Tier 3 Covid rules in 2020. Under regulations at the time, venues were only permitted to operate takeaway, delivery, and drive-through services.
Meanwhile, customers were not allowed to consume any food or drink on the premises of any venue. Despite this, Snelling - who claimed the club was in Tier 2 - allowed customers to consume alcohol inside the venue if drinks were accompanied by a 'substantial meal' because it had a Cheshire postcode despite being located within Staffordshire, StokeonTrent Live reports.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how Snelling did not respond to email and written requests by Staffordshire Police to review CCTV footage. The 72-year-old contacted CLoudside's CCTV contractor, Welch Services, to ask for help in removing the hard drive from the system.
Prosecutor Ben Lawrence noted that: "Mr SNelling was angry and demanding." Welch Services was later contacted by police on January 18, 2021, to say the defendant might claim that the footage was damaged after a leak had occurred.
Due to this, Welch Services felt uncomfortable with the demands and make a copy of the footage to be passed to the force. At an earlier hearing, Snelling pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
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 also stated that since the proceedings started, his client's health has declined following multiple heart attacks. "The prognosis is grim," he said.
Circuit Judge David Fletcher rebuked the defence lawyer's claims that his client did not know the club was in Staffordshire. "I find it hard to believe that Mr Snelling didn’t know which lockdown tier he was in," he said.
"This offence strikes at the heart of justice. [He is] anti-establishment, especially to the police. He doesn’t like being told what to do. He treated police with resentment."
The judge sentenced Snelling to six months in prison.
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