Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Licensing Sub-Committee - Tuesday 22nd October, 2024 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, Swanspool House, Doddington Road, Wellingborough, NN8 1BP

Contact: Louise Tyers  01832 742198

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That Councillor Jonathan Ekins be appointed Chair for the Sub-Committee.

2.

Apologies for non-attendance

Minutes:

There were no apologies for non-attendance.

3.

Members' Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Review of Premises Licence at Euro Market, 1 Church Street, Wellingborough, NN8 4PA pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Presented By: Rita Groves - Licensing Enforcement Officer

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

That the premises licence be revoked.

Minutes:

The licence holder was present.  He was accompanied by a translator via the telephone.

 

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report which requested the Sub-Committee to consider a review of the premises licence, under section 53A of the Licensing Act 2003, in relation to the premises known as Euro Market, 1 Church Street, Wellingborough.

 

A certificate and application to review the premises licence had been received from Northamptonshire Police on 24 September 2024.  The application was for an expedited review under s53A of the Licensing Act 2003, which allowed a process for considering whether it was necessary to take action by way of interim steps, if those premises were deemed to be a cause for serious crime or disorder.  The Police, within their application and certificate, considered that the premises concerned was associated with serious crime.

 

The request for interim steps was considered at a Sub-Committee hearing on 25 September 2024 and resulted in the premises licence being suspended until the full hearing today.

 

Statutory blue notices had been placed at the premises on 25 September 2024 but had been removed several times and replaced during the consultation period which ended on 10 October 2024.  The premises had remained closed, with shutters down since Northamptonshire Police had submitted the Summary Review application on 24 September 2024.

 

Two representations had been received during the consultation period from Northants Fire Service and the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team.

 

The Chair invited PC Leanne Laren, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, to address the Sub-Committee in support of their application.  PC Laren advised that on 16 September 2024, officers from Northamptonshire Police had attended the premises following information received from the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline.  In addition, there had been previous intelligence linked to the shop regarding the sale and storage of smuggled tobacco.

 

On conducting a search at the premises, officers located a large quantity of hand rolling tobacco and cigarettes that were being kept in a store room at the rear of the premises.  A smaller quantity was discovered under the counter near to the till.  All of the tobacco did not have the relevant UK tax paid markings and were not in the regulation packaging.  The value of the tobacco and cigarettes, if sold at UK market prices, came to £56,500.  There were 50,380 sticks (2519 packs) and 3.2 kilos (624 pouches) of tobacco.

 

In response to questions from the Sub-Committee, PC Laren confirmed that the premises had been visited at 1.30pm and the member of staff present was not aware that the Police would be attending.  PC David Bryan confirmed that CCTV was available at the premises, but he did not believe that it would be relevant in this instance.

 

The Chair invited the licence holder Mr Dilshad Kadir, through his translator, to address the Sub-Committee in support of his licence.  Mr Kadir advised that what had happened at the premises had been a complete surprise to him and he was not aware that the Police had attended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Application for a New Premises Licence for Euro Food Centre, 1 Midland Road, Wellingborough, NN8 1HA pdf icon PDF 147 KB

Presented By: Rita Groves - Licensing Enforcement Officer

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

That the application for a premises licence be refused.

Minutes:

The applicant was not present.

 

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report which requested the Sub-Committee to consider an application for a new premises licence for Euro Food Centre, 1 Midland Road, Wellingborough.

 

An application for a new premises licence was received on 30 August 2024.  The appropriate notices were displayed and the advertisement was placed as required. 

 

The application had requested to allow a licensable activity to take place in a new convenience store:

 

Sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises:

Sunday to Thursday                        08:00 – 00:00

Friday to Saturday               08:00 – 02:00

 

Opening Hours:

Sunday to Thursday                        08:00 – 00:00

Friday to Saturday               08:00 – 02:00

 

During the consultation period, one representation from Northamptonshire Police had been received under the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder.  The Police stated that the Director listed on Companies House was linked with the employment of illegal workers and had been found with illicit tobacco products.  The applicant was also linked to another premises in Wellingborough which had had illegal vapes seized from it and where a positive test purchase for illicit tobacco had been completed.

 

The Chair invited PC David Bryan, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, to address the Sub-Committee in support of their representation.  PC Bryan advised that in February 2023, a director of the applicant had been stopped by Lincolnshire Police and found to be in possession of three large boxes of illicit tobacco.  In August 2023, a hand car wash had been visited by Immigration officials and a number of people had been found with no right to work in the UK.  Another premises in Wellingborough had made an application for a premises licence where a number of non-compliant vapes had been found and a positive test purchase for illicit tobacco had been completed.  Subsequently, that application had been withdrawn.  When the application for 1 Midland Road had been received, an email address was linked to the two premises.  The Police believed that there was a link between both premises and the sale of illicit tobacco.  The Police requested that the Sub-Committee considered refusing the application.

 

RESOLVED that the application for a new premises licence for the premises known as Euro Food Centre, 1 Midland Road, Wellingborough be refused.

 

Reasons for decision

 

In reaching its decision the Sub-Committee took into consideration:

 

     Licensing Act 2003

     The s182 Statutory Guidance

     The Licensing Objectives

     The report from Rita Groves on behalf of the Council. 

     Representations of Northamptonshire Police

     North Northamptonshire Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy

 

The Sub-Committee unanimously agreed that having regard to the papers, having heard the application and the representations of all parties that there were valid concerns in relation to the operation of the premises and compliance with the conditions of the premises licence.

 

The Sub-Committee considered that the activities linked to the applicant are serious criminal activities that undermine the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder. The Sub-Committee do not seek to establish the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Close of Meeting

Minutes:

The meeting closed at 1.35pm.