The owners of a Dudley pub have been fined £8,000 for a breach of hygiene regulations and ordered to pay another £2,277 in costs. Four other charges of hygiene breaches were withdrawn. Greene King Retailing Ltd, based at Bury St Edmunds, pleaded guilty to a food safety procedure failing at the Bramford Arms in Park Road, Woodsetton in October 2019.

Other recent cases at the local magistrates court included:

A noisy neighbour has been fined for breaching a community order to stop being a loud nuisance. Graham Chance, aged 64, Woodstock Close, Dudley, admitted breaking a community protection notice ordering him to stop anti-social behaviour by creating ‘loud or ongoing noises such as shouting, banging, playing loud music, playing a wind instrument, playing TV loudly and allowing a buzzing vibrating noise’ at his home or in communal area. He was fined £80 and ordered to pay costs of £295, plus £34 into the victim services fund.

Two men have been placed on curfew after admitting housing fraud charges. Darren Zarelli, aged 40, of Winchester Close, Rowley Regis, and Dean Zarelli, aged 42, of Hagley Road, Halesowen, were between them charged with three offences related to an address in Warrens Hall Road, Dudley. Both men admitted making false statements on Housing Application Forms about whether they were living with someone else or alone at the Dudley property. Dean Zarelli also pleaded guilty to dishonestly subletting the Dudley house. Darren Zarelli was put on an electronically tagged curfew for 12 weeks from 8pm to 6am and ordered to pay £903.04p in costs. Dean Zarelli was placed on a 16-week curfew from 8pm to 6am and ordered to pay £878.04 in costs.

A man has been ordered to pay back £913 of unlawful profits to the council after admitting a housing fraud at a Dudley property. David Smith, aged 45, of Meadow Walk, Evesham, had pleaded guilty to breaching a tenancy at Clent Court, Vicarage Prospect, Dudley, from June 2018 to March 2020. He was fined £200 and ordered to pay £858 court costs and £30 to the victim services fund. He has until February 2022 to pay back the money to Dudley Council, the landlords of Clent Court.

A Brierley Hill man must pay out nearly £11,000 for botched repairs on a Halesowen couple’s home which left the roof leaking. Gary Mark Chance, aged 58, of Sedgeford Close, admitted two charges under the Consumer Protection Act involving roof repairs for a couple living at Hurst Green Road in Halesowen. He admitted the work did not comply with building regulations and that the roof was left leaking. The work was ‘wholly defective and having no value.” He also admitted giving the couple false information by telling them their contract was with GMC Trading Ltd when it wasn’t. Two other consumer protection charges were withdrawn. Chance was ordered to pay £8,299.85p in compensation, fined a total of £240 and must pay £2,416.95p in court costs and victim fund charges. The total he must pay is £10,956.80p.