London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

Gym owner fined £67,000 for repeatedly refusing to close

Gym owner fined £67,000 for repeatedly refusing to close

A gym owner has been fined £67,000 after refusing to close his venue during lockdown and repeatedly reopening it, despite multiple attempts from police to stop him.

Andreas Michli was taken to court by Haringey Council after more than 30 coppers were deployed to stop people entering Zone Gym in Wood Green, north London.

He was fined and ordered to close temporarily for five days, when he could contest the full closure in court.

Council leader Joseph Ejiofor said: ‘We have consistently been clear in Haringey that we must all work together to contain the spread of the virus.

‘For our local businesses this is an extremely difficult time and we understand the challenges they are currently facing. However, the law is the law and it applies to everyone,

‘Staying as active as you can to look after your health and wellbeing is really important during this time. But it has to be done in the right way.

‘We have tried on numerous occasions to communicate with the owner of Zone Gym who unfortunately decided to remain open despite repeated warnings.


Michli said he knows police are just doing their jobs

‘As a result we were left with no choice but to issue fixed penalty notices and have obtained a closure notice.’

The council has requested Michli be made to pay the £7,300 in court costs and the £3,000 it cost to deploy officers, the Sun reported.

Haringey council applied for a civil order to prevent the bodybuilder from even entering his building.

If Michli disobeys the court order he could be charged with a criminal offence, jailed for up to three months and fined again.

When Boris Johnson announced that gyms would be forced to close under England’s second national lockdown, Michli told Facebook followers he would ignore the rules and keep his business open.


The gym owner says gyms keep people healthy


The Metropolitan Police were sent to the gym on Tuesday evening but Michli reopened it moments after they left, despite being threatened with a £10,000 and potential arrest.

He posted a video on Facebook saying: ‘We are not closing! We are staying open because it’s the right thing to do and we need the message to get out there to the public.

‘I am flabbergasted gyms are being forced to close. Gyms have some of the lowest infection rates of business sectors.

‘The police have asked us to close but we are going to do right by our members even if the legislation says different. We are keeping people healthy.’


He opened the gym after he was forced to close it


Michli opened the gym at 11am on Wednesday morning with police stopping people from entering again.

Haringey Council arrived an hour later and served Michli with legal papers saying they would force entry to make sure the venue was closed.

But the business-owner used a loophole in the order’s wording, allowing him to enter in car a few moments later.

He then opened the gates and shouted ‘I am inviting you in’ to protesters and gym-goers. Police did not make arrests.

Michli said his members were ‘like family’ and need the gym for their physical and mental health.

He said: ‘I can’t bear to put them through the same struggle they went down in the first lockdown.

‘I’m doing the right thing. If I felt even a little bit unsure that I wasn’t doing the right thing, then I wouldn’t do it.

‘But I’m so sure, with all my heart, that I’m doing the right thing.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×