Unmanned tanning salon boss given community work order

The boss of a tanning salon where a teenage schoolgirl suffered burns on a sunbed was today ordered by a judge to do 90 hours' community work.

James Hadley, 25, who owns the Lextan salon in Barry, South Wales, was also ordered to pay £6,000 legal costs.

Hadley, of Neath Road, Resolven, admitted five health and safety breaches when he appeared at Barry Magistrates' Court last month.

Vale of Glamorgan Council, which brought the prosecution, said it was "delighted" with the outcome of the case.

District Judge John Charles, sitting at Barry Magistrates' Court today, had previously adjourned the case for pre-trial reports.

Last month he heard that concerns about the salon had been raised with Hadley four months before a 14-year-old girl was badly burned on one of its sunbeds.

The charges that he eventually faced did not relate to her, but the incident prompted a further inspection of the premises.

Vale of Glamorgan Council health and safety inspectors first raised concerns with Hadley about the salon just one month after it opened in October 2008.

Fresh concerns were raised by an inspector after a second visit in January 2009, one month before the teenager was burned.

After the first visit, Hadley received a letter from the council inspector detailing action he felt should be taken.

He was advised that operating an unmanned salon presented hazards and risks over and above those at staffed salons.

Concerns were also raised about the possibility of under-age persons using the salon and the lack of means to monitor how long customers spent on the beds.

The same inspector visited the salon in January and found that, while the majority of concerns had been acted on, the premises was unstaffed during the three-hour visit.

The following month, the council was notified about the incident involving the schoolgirl who spent too long on one of the sunbeds.

Inspectors visited the salon again and asked Hadley for the CCTV footage, but he was unable to supply it as the machine was not working.

Tests on one of the sunbeds revealed it could be used for up to 20 minutes at a time and the machine supplying goggles was empty.

During last month's hearing, Hadley's defence solicitor described him as a "entrepreneur".

He said that Hadley had opened his first tanning salon in 2006 after graduating from Cardiff University in economics and management.

He said he had since opened a further six salons and, during busy periods, they were visited by 1,000 customers a week.

The court also heard that Hadley was facing financial difficulties following his decision to man all of the salons.

Marc Adams-Jones, Vale of Glamorgan environmental health officer, said: "The council is delighted with the outcome of this case.

"The Vale has always believed that unmanned tanning salons pose an inherent risk and we hope that this case sends a clear message to proprietors of other unmanned tanning salons, not just in Wales but across the UK."