Aljawhara Gardens shisha director fined £4,978 after ignoring smoking-law warnings

Soumia Belfaquih, director of NHN Cakes Limited trading as Aljawhara Gardens in Lexham Gardens, South Kensington, pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 8 of the Health Act 2006 — the duty on anyone managing smoke-free premises to take reasonable steps to stop people smoking in them. Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Trading Standards officers had found people smoking shisha in enclosed areas of the premises not suitable for shisha smoking.

The council's case was built on escalation ignored: officers had given repeated warnings and advice to bring the lounge into compliance, and the operator chose to continue instead. On September 30, 2026, Westminster Magistrates' Court ordered Belfaquih to pay £4,978 in total — a £1,000 fine, £3,578 of the council's legal costs and a £400 victim surcharge.

The council stressed the health stakes it saw: burning coals and cinders used for shisha emit dangerous levels of carbon monoxide indoors, and shisha smoke carries chemicals and toxins that can cause adverse respiratory reactions for smokers and everyone else in the room. Lead member Cllr Johnny Thalassites said warnings had "fallen on deaf ears as the business operator chose to put members of the public at risk."

£4,978: £1,000 fine, £3,578 council legal costs and a £400 victim surcharge, plus a guilty plea on record

The lounge allowed shisha smoking in enclosed premises covered by smoke-free rules instead of moving it to a compliant space.

Management treated repeated Trading Standards warnings and advice as optional, leaving prosecution as the council's next step.

The decision to keep operating as-is put the director personally in the dock — she, not just the company, was prosecuted and sentenced.

Contested enforcement means the defendant also picks up the council's £3,578 legal costs, tripling the financial sting beyond the fine.

Enforcement escalates in steps: advice, warnings, prosecution. Ignoring the free ones is what converts a compliance fix into a conviction and someone else's legal bill.

The council published the outcome on October 8, 2026 as a warning to other venues, saying it would keep holding wrongdoers responsible. The conviction, costs and surcharge stand against the director personally. The lounge's compliance going forward was not addressed in the announcement.