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Jail for staff at 'death trap' shisha bar

Oasis lounge Credit: ITV Granada

Bosses and workers at a shisha bar, which was so dangerous it had to be demolished have been jailed.

The Oasis Lounge on Great Jackson Street, Hulme, was torn down after bosses flouted a Prohibition Notice banning people from entering the building on safety grounds.

Sentencing six defendants, His Honour Judge Michael Leeming, said:

"Had there been a fire the risk to life would have been catastrophic, with hundreds of panicking people heading to one or two exits in an unfamiliar building."

Wali Yaqub aged 35, of Mauldeth Road, Burnage was sentenced to 19 months in prison. He'd produced a letter claiming he was suffering from Ebola in Pakistan. The court was told the letter was "entirely bogus and designed to frustrate sentence proceedings."

Tajamul Khan aged 26, of Nebo Street, Bolton was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Ishtiaq Ahmed aged 36, of Chapelway Gardens, Royton was sentenced to 34 weeks in prison

Three others were ordered to do unpaid work and pay the prosecution costs.

Oasis Lounge Credit: Oasis lounge

'The defendants showed a blatant disregard for fire safety. They blocked fire exits with barrels of red diesel, tore down our notices warning the public how dangerous the building was and continued to trade for six weeks after we issued a prohibition notice.

You only need to look at what happened in Brazil in January 2013, when 241 people died in a nightclub fire, to understand how these people put their customer's lives at risk.'

– Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service's County Fire Officer, Peter O'Reilly