Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were none.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer outlined the procedure for the hearing.

Representations by the applicant:

PC Chris Stevens explained there were 3 main areas of concern from the point of view of the Police, which were;

1)    That a man appeared to have been sold alcohol despite clearly being drunk;

2)    That a suspected illegal worker was found during a Police visit, and;

3)    That 4 conditions attached to the Premises Licence had been breached.

PC Stevens showed Members CCTV footage from 1^st February 2018 which showed a man, who clearly appeared to be drunk, being helped up from the floor and then take an indirect route across the Market Square, enter the shop and leave several moments later with a bottle of beer. As he walked away from the Market Square, the man kicked the door of a nearby business twice. On his visit to the premises the following day, PC Stevens found a man alone and seemingly working in the shop. The man explained to PC Stevens that “the boss” had stepped out briefly and that he was just watching the shop whilst Mr Balusamy was away. When asked if he held a personal licence, the man informed PC Stevens that he had taken an online course and that the Mr Balusamy had his paperwork. After running a check, it was discovered that the man was known by the Home Office with no right to work in the UK. On his return the owner, Mr Balusamy, informed PC Stevens that the CCTV recorder was broken and so was unable to provide the footage that PC Stevens had requested. At this point PC Stevens noted for Members that when Mr Balusamy, had previously been the victim of a crime, CCTV footage had been made available immediately afterwards.

Members were shown footage from 16^th February 2018 which showed a man emerge from a storage/living space to the area behind the counter. A few minutes later, he went back and emerged again with stock and proceeded to stock the shelves. PC Stevens pointed out that this was the same man he had spoken to on his visit to the premises on the 2^nd February and noted that a witness statement from a Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer dated 20^th February 2018 showed that Mr Balusamy and his wife were the only Personal Licence Holders for the premises.

PC Stevens explained that 4 conditions of the Premises Licence had been breached:

1)    A single bottle of beer had been sold,

2)    2 shelves of spirits were available for self-service,

3)    The worker present at the time of the Police visit did not hold a Personal Licence, and;

4)    The failure to provide CCTV footage when requested.

PC Stevens stated that it was the position of the Police that for those reasons, the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder was not being upheld and revocation of the premises licence was both reasonable and proportionate.

Representations by the representor:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.