The owner of a neighbourhood cafe and restaurant who sold alcohol after hours, refused to operate CCTV and illegally sold shisha has been banned from holding an alcohol licence.
On Thursday, September 18, Salar Henareh, 37, of Lentworth Drive, Walkden, was meant to attend a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court after previously pleaded not guilty to a string of licensing and health offences.
However, after failing to attend, an application was made to proceed and he was subsequently found guilty in his absence.
This was the result of a two-year investigation into his practices at the Sky Lounge, in Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton. Complaints made against the venue ranged from persistent noise nuisance to alcohol being sold illegally outside of the venue’s licensed hours.
These complaints ran from October 2023 when Henareh began operating this venue to his departure in January 2025.
During visits carried out by the Council’s Licensing and Out of Hours Team noted repeated breaches of the terms of the venue’s licence, including Henareh’s refusal to provide CCTV footage from the venue. Providing this footage was a legal requirement under the terms of the venue’s licence.
In January 2024 Manchester City Council’s Licensing Committe revoked the premises licence for Sky Lounge as a result of these investigations, a decision which was appealed by Hanareh.
During this appeal window when the venue was allowed to continue operating, further illegal activity took place. Officers observed shisha being sold on the premises – a clear violation of anti-smoking laws which prohibit the smoking of shisha inside an enclosed space.
And, on December 6, 2024, plainclothes officers from the Council’s Licencing team entered the premises and were sold alcohol outside the venue’s licensed hours.
As a result the appeal was withdrawn, and the Council was awarded court costs of £1,531.80 following a hearing held on May 15, 2025.
On Thursday, September 18, 2025, Henareh was convicted in absentia of breaching 12 offences under the Licensing Act 2003, for which he was fined a total of £10,000.
He was also fined £100 for a single breach of the Health Act 2006 relating to the smoking of shisha inside the venue.
He was ordered to pay costs of £3,750 and to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000.
As a result of these convictions the Council also applied for a forfeiture of the defendant’s personal alcohol licence, which was granted. This means the defendant will be prohibited from being a licenced premises manager for five years.
