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the case was first heard he adjourned the hearing in order to visit
the premises and at the adjourned hearing, before any evidence was
called for the defence, announced his decision by saying that he had
visited the premises and, having found them satisfactory, thought
that the Hackney Borough Council should be ordered to register
them.
Counsel for the Borough Council was then permitted to call
evidence with regard to these premises, which the Borough Council
had refused to register on the grounds that provision of one watercloset
for males and one for females (for three lock-up shops) situated
in a tiny yard entered from the pavement, which were always in a
foul condition when inspected, together with a tap over a gully in
the yard was insufficient sanitary and cleansing apparatus for a
premises which required registration under the Food and Drugs
Act,1938.
It will be seen that one of the Council's grounds for refusing
to register the premises was inadequate sanitary accommodation,
yet the legal importance placed upon this deficiency can best be
illustrated by the magistrate's reply to a question put to him by the
defending counsel following the magistrate's visit to the premises :—
Counsel: "May I, with respect, ask whether you saw the
sanitary accommodation ?''
Magistrate: "No, I did not."
With regard to the requirement under Section 13 of the Food
and Drugs Act for a sufficient supply of clean water, both hot and
cold, it must be pointed out that in this case the washing basin was
an enamel bowl placed on an up-ended box, while the only water
supply available was from a tap over a gully in a small yard, and in
the opinion of the magistrate, the requirement of hot water was
satisfied by the provision of an electric kettle, notwithstanding the
fact that although the kettle was visible from the sidewalk, it had
never been seen in use on the several occasions on which the premises
were kept under observation.
The water had to be brought from the tap in the small yard in
the bowl and unless the vendor, after using the lavatory, had washed
his hands under the tap, he would have had to wash them in the
bowl which did not contain running water and so after being used
on several occasions, the water might become in itself very dangerous.
Nevertheless, the magistrate was much impressed by the fact that
the water in the bowl was clean —"I noticed that the water was
quite clean at 12.30.'' The fact that the water, although clean to