Agenda and minutes

The Licensing Officer outlined the purpose of the hearing explaining that an application had been received from Northamptonshire Police on 12^th April 2010 with evidence to support the failure of the licensing objective for the Protection of Children from Harm.  The Licensing Officer then explained the procedure of the hearing.

Applicant for the Review

PC Dave Bryan, a Licensing Officer for Northamptonshire Police, explained the background of the review.  The premises had been the subject of three failed Test Purchase Operations on the 18^th December 2008, 12^th December 2009 and 25^th March 2010.  The first sale was by a non-personal licence holder and was dealt with by a fixed penalty notice of £80.00. The second and third were by the Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder, Claudia Ifrim.   Claudia Ifrim had been interviewed by the police and awaited Court proceedings for selling alcohol to a person under 18 years old for the 25^th March incident.

Northamptonshire Police were aware that the links between anti-social behaviour and underage sales of alcohol were well documented and to ensure alcohol was sold and consumed responsibility was a key priority.  Extra funding had been received from the Government to tackle the problem and in these circumstances suspension should be considered as a deterrent

Questions to the Applicant

In response to a question, PC Bryan confirmed that the shop was within Abington Square of the Town Centre where people generally congregated and was therefore unable to confirm if they would be associated with the shop.  They had received intelligence which had led them to test the premises.  It was a convenience store which catered for the Eastern European community.

Representation by the Respondent

Claudia Ifrim, the Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder explained that she had tests on 12^th December, 18^th December, 25^th March and 7^th May.  She had failed the 12^th December and 25^th March tests but had passed the others.  She confirmed that she was guilty of selling alcohol to underaged people and had only realised afterwards.  In response to a question, Claudia Ifrim explained on the evening of the last incident her friend had been helping her stack the fridges and the customer had come into the shop at 9.30pm and she was distracted.  She did not realise and did not check for identification.  She did not want to sell alcohol but the shop was not successful without it.

Questions to the Respondent

Claudia Ifrim explained that she was very busy in the shop and in the past had helped the Police catch offenders using fake identification and shop lifters.  She was the only person who worked in the shop but sometimes her daughter and husband helped out.  She decided to open a shop because she had worked in two different factories and got made redundant both times. In response to a question from the Solicitor, Claudia Ifrim confirmed for the earlier offence she was fined £100 at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.