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COVID-19 RULES

Danish court hands out hefty fine to beauty salon owners for Covid-19 breach

The city court in Roskilde on Friday fined the owners of a beauty clinic in the town 200,000 kroner each for repeatedly opening their business during Covid-19 lockdown.

Danish court hands out hefty fine to beauty salon owners for Covid-19 breach
A file photo of the Roskilde Court, which on Friday decided to give substantial fines to two beauty salon owners for breaching Covid-19 restrictions. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The court’s decision was confirmed by Central and West Jutland police in a statement.

Prosecutor Camilla Kragh said that the prosecution service had hoped for the owners of the clinic to submit a guilty plea.

“But the defendants would not fully admit the charges and they wanted a jury trial instead. So there have been many procedural steps that have contributed to the fact that the case has only just come to an end,” she said in the statement.

The couple are joint owners of the beauty clinic Cliuniq in the town, located around 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen.

Police visited the clinic and found it to be open on 18 occasions during a period when this was prohibited under Covid-19 restrictions.

“These are large fines and they show the seriousness of the matter in relation to the situation society was in at the time,” Kragh said in the statement.

The court has found them guilty of the charges raised by the prosecution, which also stated that they undertook hair removal treatments at the clinic without proper registration with the Danish Patient Safety Authority (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed).

The clinic owners are reported to be considering an appeal against the decision.

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COVID-19 RULES

Denmark gives mink farmer suspended sentence for illegal breeding

A mink breeder located in West Jutland has been handed a fine and suspended prison sentence for keeping the animals while a national ban on the trade was in place.

Denmark gives mink farmer suspended sentence for illegal breeding

The breeder was prosecuted for continuing to breed minks while a ban against the trade was in place due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The breeder, based in West Jutland village Thyholm, was found to have 126 minks at his farm during an inspection in December 2021.

The conditional prison sentence, given after a ruling at the Holstebro Court, includes a community service requirement. The company with which the farmer is director must pay a fine of 100,000 kroner.

Denmark banned mink breeding in late 2020 over concerns about potential Covid variants that could emerge from the farms. The ban was lifted at the end of last year.

During the trial, the farmer claimed the animals weren’t his, and that he was looking after them for someone else.

“It was minks I looked after for others. They [the owners, ed.] came by and checked them,” he is reported to have said.

Private ownership of up to five minks was permitted while the ban on fur breeding was in place.

During the inspection, the Danish Veterinary and Food Agency (Fødevarestyrelsen) found the animals being kept “in farm-like conditions” with feed and medicines also discovered at the address.

A vet from the agency said during the trial that he was in no doubt that breeding was at play.

“They were kept in cages that millions of other minks were kept in. The cages were fastened with plastic strips so there was nothing to suggest this was pets,” he said.

The agency culled all 126 minks during the inspection, in line with Denmark’s Covid-19 controls at the time.

The farmer is reported to be considering an appeal against the decision.

READ ALSO: Half of Denmark’s mink breeders did not take Covid-19 tests despite requests

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