Thread: Pet shop owner who sold goldfish to boy hauled before court

Pet shop owner who sold goldfish to boy hauled before court and ordered to wear electronic tag
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


A pet shop owner has been ordered to wear an electronic tag for selling a goldfish to a 14-year-old boy.
Great-grandmother Joan Higgins, 66, was caught by council bosses in an undercover investigation after she unwittingly sold the fish to the boy, breaching new animal welfare laws.
She was subjected to an eight-month court ordeal and threatened with jail before being fined £1,000 and ordered to abide by a nightime curfew and wear the tag so the authorities can monitor her movements.
The court ruling has now prevented Joan from babysitting her one-month-old great-grandson at his mother's home and attending weekly Bingo sessions with her sister.
Mrs Higgins was also forced her to cancel plans to attend a Rod Stewart concert after tickets were bought for her by her TV actor nephew Will Mellor.
Today, Joan's 47-year-old son son Mark, who was also fined £750 and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work, labelled the prosecution a 'judicial joke'.
Mr Higgins, of Sale, Greater Manchester said: 'I think it's a farce and legal lunacy and I told the council that.
'What gets me so cross is that they put my Mum on a tag - she's nearly 70, for goodness sake.
'Once it's fitted she'll be on a curfew from 7pm until 7am until June. She won't be able to go out with her sister to bingo every week, and she's been bought tickets to see Rod Stewart by her nephew Will Mellor, so she won't be able to go to that.
'She's a great-grandmother - so she won't be able to babysit a newborn baby, all because of this tag. You would think they have better things to do with their time and money.'
The prosecution has cost the taxpayer an estimated £20,000.

Majors Pet shop in Sale, Greater Manchester, owned by Joan and Mark Higgins
Mrs Higgins and her son were caught out by a new bill passed in 2005 which makes it illegal to sell goldfish to under 16s and threatens offenders with up to 12 months in prison.
In July 2009, Trafford council sent a 14-year-old boy to the shop to do a test purchase and after failing to ask the boy for identification, the pair were summoned to court.
Mr Higgins labelled the incident 'entrapment', saying the boy looked older than 14.
He added: 'The council sent the 14-year-old into us - in my book that's entrapment.
'And besides which is it hard to tell how old a lad is these days. He looked much older than 14.'
Mrs Higgins, a grandmother of three and great-grandmother to one, has been running the shop for 28 years.
She nearly fainted in the dock when she was told she could face jail for the offence. But instead she was given a 7am to 7pm curfew after the court heard she was unfit to do unpaid work.
The pair pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates to selling the fish to a person under 16.
They also pleaded guilty for causing unnecessary suffering to a cockatiel by failing to provide appropriate care and treatment after council officers noticed a cockatiel bird in the shop in need of veterinary care with a broken leg.
Mr Higgins added: 'I would have accepted the £1,000 fine for her and £750 for me, but I've got to do 120 hours of unpaid work to do and because my Mum isn't fit enough to do that they have put her on a tag.
'Mum has been running the shop for 28 years and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened.
'My argument was that people selling tobacco or alcohol to under age customers get two warnings before they get taken to court.
'My Mum just wants it to be over. She has been worried sick about it. She wobbled over in the dock when they said she could go to prison.
'I told her they wouldn't send her to prison but she was still worried. The only other time she has been in court is when she did jury service.
"She volunteers for the shows for PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) and donates food for free to them - what has she ever done to anyone?
'This is what I couldn't understand. The system is a judicial joke.'



Read more: Pet shop owner who sold goldfish to boy hauled before court and ordered to wear electronic tag | Mail Online

Looks like she was lucky the boy only asked for one goldfish then!

Something a bit fishy about this story!

Not April 1st yet!

Insane ... everyone please exit the UK ASAP.

What would ya get for selling a puppy to kid from the litter ... the chair ?

Mark

unbelievable.

violent crimes and robberies go unpunished, yet misdemeanors like this are relentlessly pursued by petty minded and vindictive council officials on high salaries.