Brit woman, 66, fined 1K pounds for selling goldfish to teenager

London, March 31 (ANI): A British great grandmother has been slapped with a fine of 1,000 pounds and ordered to wear an electronic tag for trading a goldfish to a teenaged boy.

Council officials caught pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, in an undercover sting.

Legal proceedings - costing an estimated 20,000 pounds - against her took eight months following which she was fined and slapped with a curfew.

And now Joan is not allowed to babysit her great grandson at his mother's home or go to bingo.

Her son Mark, 47, of Sale, Greater Manchester, was asked to pay a fine of 750 pounds and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

However, he has criticised the prosecution.

"I think it's a farce and legal lunacy and I told the council that. What gets me so cross is that they put my mum on a tag. She's nearly 70, for goodness' sake," the Daily Star quoted Mark, as saying.

He added: "Mum has been running the shop for 28 years and this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened."

Last July the mother and son duo were caught selling goldfish to a 14-year-old boy, who was sent to the shop by Trafford council bosses.

A bill passed in 2005 makes it illegal to sell goldfish to under-16s and offenders can be sent to jail for up to a year.

At a hearing at Trafford Magistrates Joan and Mark pleaded guilty to selling the fish. (ANI)