A takeaway and its owner have been handed hefty fines after fraudulently claiming £20,000 in COVID support grants.
Ajibola Jerimiah Adenuga, who is the owner of a takeaway food business – which trades under the name Suya Republick – on Chester Road, just outside of Manchester city centre, was last week (Friday 31 May) sentenced at a hearing, and subsequently fined following first pleading guilty to six offences at a Magistrates Court hearing back in November of last year.
The 35-year-old from Eccles benefited from a whopping £17,669 in fraudulent COVID support grant claims, and also attempted to claim a further £2,667 – which would’ve made it a total of £20,336.
Mr Adenuga first made his way onto the Council’s radar after his application for an Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) in February 2022 was declined and subsequently referred for investigation, as it was found that he was takeaway, rather than a restaurant as claimed in his application, and takeaways were not eligible under this scheme as they were not required to close.
Chester Road in Manchester, where the takeaway was located / Credit: Google Maps
Following the Council’s investigation, it was found that Mr Adenuga had also received a Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) totalling £9,669.21 after claiming to be a ‘sexual entertainment and hostess bar’ when operating as a takeaway.
Mr Adenuga also received a Restart Grant (RG) of £8,000 by claiming to be an outdoor bar supplying alcoholic beverages.
Mr Adenuga was interviewed twice by Council officers in June and July 2022, and admitted that he had made false applications to support his business.
His guilty pleas therefore saw him sentenced to a 12-month Community Order, 200 hours unpaid work with five Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days attached, costs of £1,400 plus a £114 victims surcharge, and the Court also suspended his personal licence to sell alcohol for two months.
The company itself was also fined £1,000, along with £1,400 in costs under the Fraud Act 2006 for three offences, and ordered to pay a £400 victims surcharge.
Featured Image – Google Maps
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Drinks prices for Manchester Oasis gigs announced – and you’ll be pleasantly surprised
Daisy Jackson
The prices of drinks at Heaton Park for the five huge Manchester Oasis shows have been released in advance.
With the Gallagher brothers reuniting on stage in their hometown for the first time this weekend (and then again next week), it’s a huge moment for our city.
Those lucky enough to snag tickets have already forked out a small fortune to witness this moment in history (still scarred from the dynamic pricing debacle).
And most of us were probably bracing to spend another small fortune on beers at the Oasis Manchester gigs.
But you might be pleasantly surprised at the drinks prices up at Heaton Park for Oasis Live ’25.
It’s now been confirmed that pints of lager and cider will be just £6.50.
Before you turn your nose up, remember that pints at our two arenas – the AO Arena and Co-op Live are now sitting around the £9 mark.
Prices for other drinks, like wine and spirits, we’ll have to wait until Friday to see.
Heaton Park will also be the home of the ‘largest beer garden’ and the longest bars in the city for the Oasis reunion.
With a major heatwave predicted for the first shows, fans are being encouraged to stay hydrated (on WATER, not beer, please).
Ticket-holders will be allowed to bring a sealed bottle of water up to 500ml in with you, but it must be collapsible plastic.
Solid plastic and metal containers will be rejected on safety grounds.
There’s a free water point on site where you can fill up your bottles again.
Oasis will perform at Heaton Park in Manchester on 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20 July.
Dates announced as resident doctors prepare to stage strikes this month
Emily Sergeant
Resident doctors in England have voted to stage strike action over pay, and the dates for the industrial action have now been confirmed.
The British Medical Association (BMA) says doctors have ‘spoken clearly’ after the results of a vote published today revealed that 90% of resident doctors have voted in favour of a potential return to industrial action.
It comes after the ballot – which ran from 27 May until 7 July – saw a turnout of 55% members, with almost 30,000 (29,741) votes cast.
26,766 of those votes endorsed the use of strike action as part of efforts to restore pay, while just under 3,000 voted against it.
The result means that resident doctors have now secured a fresh mandate to stage industrial action when they choose from now until January 2026.
BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs, Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt, said that, while no doctor took the possibility of striking lightly, a clear majority of members felt that they had ‘no other choice’ given the ongoing failures to restore pay.
They added that Health Secretary Wes Streeting has the power to ‘make the right decision’ on pay, and urged the Government to return to negotiations ‘as soon as possible’.
It’s now been confirmed that resident doctors will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
These upcoming strikes come after resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors, until 2024 – in England participated in an unprecedented 11 rounds of strike action after negotiations with the previous Conservative Government over restoring pay repeatedly stalled.
“Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly – they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008,” the committee co-chairs said. “Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.
“Doctors don’t take industrial action lightly, but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away.
“The next move is the Government’s – will it repeat the mistakes of its predecessor? Or will it do the right thing and negotiate a path to full pay restoration and the restoration of doctors’ confidence in our profession’s future?”
Emily Sergeant -
4th June 2024 
