Finla Coffee fights back against Plymouth City Council

Owners of Finla Coffee that mounted and lost a Magna Carta defence against breaching COVID regulations have lodged an appeal at Plymouth Crown Court.

Finla Coffee Ltd, in the Plymouth suburb of Plympton, and owners Deanna Yates and Michael Pendlebury have appealed the judgment made on 7 July 2021 and £42k in fines and costs.

The three were each fined £10,000 and in addition, the business was ordered to pay £8,221 and the owners £2,002 each, respectively towards court and council investigation costs.

The charges, brought against them by Plymouth City Council, relate to 6 and 7 November 2020 when the business refused to close and stop selling food and drink.

Yates and Pendlebury have a GoFundMe page to help with legal costs, which has so far raised over £10k. On their company website they argue the prosecution is “unlawful” and claim there has been an “abuse of process”.

Neither Plymouth City Council nor anyone from Finla were available to comment.