Maurice Snelling, 72, was found to have breached Covid restrictions by selling wine and snacks at Cloudside Shooting Grounds, Staffordshire, in 2020. The county was under third-tier restrictions at the time, meaning venues were only allowed to offer drive-thru or takeout service. However, Snelling claimed the club had a CW12 Cheshire postcode, which was below the second tier at the time, and so was allowed to serve alcohol inside if the drinks were accompanied by a “significant meal”. District Judge David Fletcher dismissed this, noting that the defendant had lived in the area for 30 years, during which time his rubbish had been collected by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. He said: “I find it hard to believe that Mr Snelling did not know what level of lockdown he was in.” Police began investigating the site after residents reported gatherings at the club in December 2020 and January 2021, according to StokeonTrentLive. Snelling did not respond to requests from Staffordshire Police to review the CCTV footage, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard. He also contacted Welch Services, a local CCTV business, to request that the venue’s hard drive be deleted from the system as the police investigation was ongoing. Welch Services were uncomfortable with the request and contacted the police on 18 January 2021 to report that the defendant may claim that the CCTV footage had been damaged due to a leak. The company provided officers with a copy of the video. After pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing, Snelling was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison. Thomas Sherrington, defending, said his client’s health had been in decline since the trial began, having suffered multiple heart attacks since then. “My client is a man who is 72 years old and for many years ran a successful business and genuinely believed the premises fell in Cheshire,” Mr Sherridan said in mitigation. “This has tarnished his reputation. He believed he was being targeted by neighbors and this created resentment in a man of good character.”
