Covid-breach cafe owners fined - one claimed virus was 'Nazi government propaganda'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The husband and wife owners of a Covid-breach cafe have been hauled to court and fined. One claimed the Covid-19 pandemic was 'Nazi government propaganda' when council officers paid a visit.

Manchester city council said Kate and Luc Cafe, in Burnage, once hosted almost 30 customers during a period of coronavirus lockdown and 'repeatedly flouted Covid-19 restrictions'.

The cafe, on Burnage Lane, was closed by the council for three months in February, 2021, and subsequently had its alcohol licence stripped following numerous and repeated complaints, a town hall spokesman said.

"It was found to have continued trading during lockdown and refusing to take protective measures that were, at the time, required by businesses in order to keep members of the public safe," said the council in a statement on Friday.

Owners Lucjan Domanski, 39, of Chapel Street, Levenshulme, and Katarzyna Korzewnikow-Domanska, 46, of Buxton Road, Stockport, appeared before Manchester magistrates' court on Thursday. The cafe itself was the third defendant, said the council.

A District Judge found each of the three defendants guilty in their absence of four counts of failing to comply with an Improvement Notice. Each offence attracted a £1,000 fine, bringing the total to £12,000. They were also ordered to pay costs of £4,999, apportioned out at £1,666 each.

The council said that at the hearing, an individual purporting to be 'in a contract' with the defendants cited antiquated legislation, namely the Monopolies Act, 1662, as part of an argument that they could address the court. But the council spokesman said the District Judge did not permit the person to represent the defendants at the trial, at which point the individual, and the defendants, walked