It landed him in court
Some of the drinks Jermane Harding was without a licence(Image: Trafford Council)
A street trader who set up an illegal ‘pop-up pub’ on the pavement near Old Trafford has been fined.
Jermane Harding, 37, was flogging cans of Red Stripe and Guinness as well as, Jack Daniels, Courvoisier cognac, Ciroc vodka and home-made rum punch from chilled buckets of ice near Manchester United’s home ground on the day of their 2-0 defeat to West Ham, on Sunday May 11 last year.
He also had a sound-system blaring at his ‘makeshift bar’ on Trafford Wharf Road. He didn’t have a licence to sell alcohol, Trafford Council said. When he was confronted by officers from their licensing team, he told them he didn’t realise he needed one, the town hall said.
It later emerged he had previously been by warned by Manchester City Council officials after being caught selling booze without a licence outside Parklife festival, at Heaton Park, in 2024.
Harding was hawking booze from buckets of ice on the street near Old Trafford(Image: Trafford Council)
He had also been selling his rum punch online, again without a licence, Trafford Council said. He was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to charges of illegal street trading and carrying out unlicensed licensable activities at Manchester Magistrates Court on Wednesday (January 7).
Harding, of Servia Drive, Woodhouse, Leeds, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £300, and £300 in costs.
In a statement issued by the council about the case, Coun Rose Thompson, the authority’s Executive Member for Communities and Safety, said: “Our highly experienced Licensing Enforcement Team works hard to spot and challenge those who think trading rules do not apply to them, and take action to prevent such activity.
“Licensing regulations exist to uphold proper standards for trading and to protect the public from unreputable operators.”