A brazen salon owner who racked up £17,000 in fines after flouting Covid rules during the second lockdown may reopen the business next week.
Sinead Quinn quoted the Magna Carta as a defence not to comply with the strict restrictions after police were called to Quinn Blakey Hairdressing in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November last year.
The owner, who has yet to pay her Fixed Penalty Notices, has suggested she will reopen the salon’s doors on January 30 - a day she has dubbed ‘The Great Reopening’.
In a furious Instagram rant, the salon’s page wrote: “We're all opening regardless of lockdown. They can't control us all when we stand up to them."
In a separate post, a caption read: "When is lockdown meant to end? Feb? In February you can bet your life savings that Covid-21 will be here and so will your lockdown.
"I'd like you to sit back and watch it all play out but we're running out of time. Stand up for your freedoms. 30th January.
“Get up and open your businesses, go out and support those businesses. We are the power, not them."
In a story on her page, Quinn said: "If masks work, why are cases increasing? Why are we in lockdown? Why are you still wearing your mask?"
Quinn has shared a number of videos to the business's Instagram page questioning lockdown and other Covid measures.
She previously pinned a notice to the door of her shop citing the Magna Carta declaring that she did not consent to the lockdown.
Practicing barrister and best-selling writer The Secret Barrister debunked such a defence last year, labelling it "pure nonsense" and "pseudo-legal rubbish".
Magistrates eventually ordered the closure of the salon in the last lockdown "to prevent nuisance to members of the public and to safeguard public health".
Kirklees Council confirmed that the £17,000 fines issued to Quinn Blakey Hairdressing had not yet been paid.
A spokesperson said: "With the time given to pay the fines now passed, we have started a prosecution process and are currently putting our case together.
"This process can take some time and could potentially lead to a trial. Punishment could be an unlimited fine, decided by the court.
"In the meantime, if further breaches of lockdown rules occur, we will need to take the same appropriate action which will be the case for any business."
