A pensioner has been jailed for serving wine and mince pies during Covid lockdown.
Maurice Snelling has been locked away for six months after he was caught selling food and drink from Cloudside Shooting & Sporting Club in Staffordshire, when he claimed he thought he was in Tier 2, but was actually in Tier 3.
The 72-year-old also tried to destroy evidence to cover his trail, and ignored emailed and written requests from Staffordshire police for CCTV footage, proving his crimes, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.
Snelling was the licence holder at the club that was stuck in Tier 3 during the Covid lockdown in late 2020, when the incident took place.
But the confusion stemmed from the pensioner claiming his premises was in Cheshire, which was Tier 2, BirminghamLive reported.
However, in reality, Snelling was just inside Staffordshire, which was in Tier 3, meaning he could only operate as a takeaway or drive-thru.
As he thought he was in Tier 2, he went ahead with serving customers alcohol as the drinks were accompanied by a ‘substantial meal’.
Snelling claimed that because of his CW12 postcode he hadn't breached regulations, but the judge rejected that as he had lived in the area for 30 years, so would've known he said.
But as the police closed in, Snelling reached out to CCTV contractors Welch Services to ask them to delete the footage of his lawbreaking.
Prosecutor Ben Lawrence said that he had been "angry and demanding", and the company felt uncomfortable and turned a copy over to the police instead.
Snelling pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at a previous hearing and was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in prison.
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 declined and he had suffered multiple heart attacks. He added: “The prognosis is grim.”
But Circuit Judge David Fletcher said: "I find it hard to believe that Mr Snelling didn’t know which lockdown tier he was in. 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."
