Poker club owner is fined £3,000

The owner of a Belfast poker club, raided by police a year ago, has been fined £3,000 after being convicted of breaking betting and gambling laws.

A magistrate ordered that £2,000 seized by police should be given to charity.

Sean Murphy, who runs the Cavendish Club on Corporation Street, accepted he had broken the law but called for new regulations to allow poker in NI.

But a Crown lawyer told the city's magistrates court police hoped this was the "first of many" such prosecutions.

The resident magistrate ordered the disposal of seized slot machines.

She said roulette and blackjack tables would not be confiscated, as Mr Murphy had promised they would only be used for a legitimate purpose within the law.