Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Wire DL.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2013 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

None.

Councillor Hibbert declared a personal, non-pecuniary interest in the Full Review of Mo Mo, 79-81 Abington Street, Northampton as he had attended a function at the premises during the last year.

Councillor Hill declared a personal, non-pecuniary interest in the Full Review of Mo Mo, 79-81 Abington Street, Northampton as he had attended a function at the premises in 2010 as the Mayor.

None.

The Senior Licensing Officer informed the Committee of the results of the consultation regarding the proposed re-location of the existing street trading consent site on Gowerton Road, Brackmills, Northampton, which the Committee had agreed to advertise at its previous meeting, held on 10 December 2013.  No objections had been received to the proposal and those consulted had recognised the advantages of the proposed new location.  The original commencement date for the new of 1 February 2014 had been delayed by one month to comply with the statutory regulations.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the existing street trading consent site in Gowerton Road, Brackmills, Northampton be withdrawn in favour of the adoption of the new site nominated by the Senior Licensing Officer in agreement with Mr Chris Barker, Brackmills Industrial Estate Security Manager and the street trader, Mr Podolczak (as shown on the map appended to the officer’s report), with a commencement date of 1 March 2014.

2.    That authority be delegated to the officers to change the commencement date of the new consent site from 1 February 2014 to 1 March 2014 to comply with the statutory regulations.

Presentation by the Licensing Officer

The Senior Licensing Officer stated that an application had been received from PC Bryan of Northamptonshire Police on 30 December 2013 for a review of the premises licence for Mo Mo 79-81 Abington Street, Northampton following a stabbing incident which had taken place at the premises on 27 December 2013 which had been deemed serious on the ground of the Licensing Objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.  An expedited review had been held by the Licensing Sub-Committee on 31 December 2013, which had determined that the premises licence conditions should be modified so as to ensure that at least 50% of attendees are searched prior to entering the premises.  A full review was required to be held within 28 days of the application for review.

The Senior Licensing Officer then explained the procedure for the review.

Presentation by the Applicant

PC Bryan and Sergeant Worthington stated that two persons had been stabbed on 27 December 2013 at Mo Mo’s.  The victims had not co-operated with the Police, and were known to the Metropolitan Police, and there was no CCTV evidence of the incident so there was no prosecution to take forward.  The incident had been serious but no one had been killed, although the outcome of the incident could have been much worse.  Several of the conditions on the premises licence were unenforceable and the Police had met with the venue owner and Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) to consider new conditions, which were circulated at the meeting.  99% of the conditions had been agreed with the venue owner and DPS and there was only one condition (no. 7, relating to the installation of a scanner to verify identification documents) which needed to be resolved.  Pubwatch and the Police were prepared to offer match funding towards the cost of buying a scanner for any licensed premises which wished to purchase one.  Other conditions, inter alia, related to improving the CCTV which was of poor quality, requesting that the Police receive a minimum 14 days’ notice of private events so that promoters could be checked and not fly posting events as had happened in the past.

Questions to the Applicant from the Committee and the Respondents

In answer to questions from the Committee PC Bryan and Sergeant Worthington stated that:

·         Mo Mo was not very different from other licensed premises in the town centre.  Installing an identification scanner would help the Police to identify who was actually in licensed premises and the Police would like to see scanners in all licensed premises.

·         Many licensed premises now had conditions that were unenforceable as legislation and people’s habits changed over time.  The only way to change those conditions was through reviews of licensed premises, unless premises’ owners voluntarily agreed to changes.

·         The incident on 27 December 2013 had been at a private event organised by a promoter.  Giving Police advance notice of promotions would allow checks to be undertaken on the promoter and the event and for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.