editorial comment that's what paraphernalia calls family values!

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy is to open a drugs paraphernalia and adult video store in Wales.

The store in Swansea will be run by Antony Manca, who has until now been living with his father Piet in Spain.

Mr Manca (senior) hit the headlines earlier this year after being fined £4,000 with £7,000 costs for selling X-rated videos from his Little Amsterdam shop in Neath.

The Neath store, operating opposite Cabinet MP Peter Hain's constituency office has now re-opened after a period of closure.

Mr Manca said yesterday he was appealing against convictions for supplying and possessing unclassified videos and DVDs.

He added he was helping his teenage son Antony establish another Little Amsterdam store in King Edward Road, Swansea. Although he is only 16, Antony is legally allowed to run the shop, which does not have the same over-18s rule as licensed sex shops.

Mr Manca said seven students had been taken on as part-time sales assistants and trading would begin on Monday.

His son Antony, a director of Little Amsterdam, said yesterday, "I'm looking forward to it."

Companies House in Cardiff confirmed there was no age limit for company directors.

Peter May, a Swansea Liberal Democrat councillor who lives a few hundred yards from the proposed Swansea store, said, "I'm absolutely disgusted. It goes against everything we have been working for in this area.

"We have suffered a virtual epidemic of criminal damage cases involving breaking car mirrors and a yob culture has entered the area which was not present before.

"The issue of drugs is a sensitive one in an area where there are a lot of multiply occupied houses.

"To be honest, a shop selling drug paraphernalia even though it may meet legal requirements is the very last thing we need. I will be speaking closely to council officers to look into this new business very closely. Quite frankly I find it alarming that a 16-year-old is due to run it."

Mr Manca said yesterday his son would be opening the store in a former antiques shop, so there has been no need for an application for change of use.

He said, "We have spoken to licensing officers and everything will comply with regulations and with the law."

Mr Manca now runs a web site in Spain from which he sells drug paraphernalia, "various sex objects", adult videos and DVDs.

He said, "There are more liberal laws in Spain and if transactions are done outside the UK we can get around local restrictions. Antony will be promoting the web site in the new Swansea store as well as selling things like cannabis seeds and growing equipment."

Mr Manca says he plans to open a Little Amsterdam store in Cardiff next year.

He said, "The shops are popular with the public but not with the authorities. I was supported by the Federation of Small Businesses over the Neath videos and hope to win on appeal."

Mr May added, "A number of residents have expressed concerns to me about the changes at the shop in King Edward Road. But the fact it is due to open next week and will be run by a teenager has come out of the blue.

"People will not be happy to see this store in the area.

"I do not feel it is an appropriate use for this building and will be taking the matter further."

When Piet Manca was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 costs for selling unclassified adult videos at his Neath store earlier this year he said outside Swansea Crown Court, "It's only a week's wages".

He was brought back to court after the comments found their way to Judge Christopher Morton.

The judge reprimanded Mr Manca for the remarks and warned him, "You are sailing close to the wind".

Brought up in Neath, Mr Manca established a successful Little Amsterdam store in Blackpool with his former partner Hayley Lewis.

When the couple split, Mr Manca brought the couple's son and daughter up in Spain.

He said, "The laws in the UK are antiquated, which is one of the reasons we call the stores Little Amsterdam, a reminder of a more liberal place."

back | to top | full article >>