Issue - meetings

Licensing Act 2003 - Application for a transfer of a premises licence in respect of Drink Buster, Unit 8 Crossways Shopping Centre, Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QB

Meeting: 28/07/2020 - Statutory Licensing Sub-Committee (Item 4)

4 Licensing Act 2003 - Application for a transfer of a premises licence in respect of Drink Buster, Unit 8 Crossways Shopping Centre, Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

An application for a transfer of a premises licence in respect of Drink Buster, Unit 8, Crossways Shopping Centre, Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QB was considered following representations received from West Midlands Police.

 

The Chair welcomed all parties to the hearing and outlined the procedure to be followed. All parties confirmed that they understood the procedure.

 

Anita Chonk, Licensing and Compliance Officer provided an outline of the application. Mr Duncan Craig, Barrister representing the Applicant, Polish Shop Cash and Carry Ltd, confirmed that the summary provided was accurate.

 

The Chair invited the Applicant to present their application.

 

Mr Duncan Craig did so on behalf of the Applicant. He referred to the Revised Guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003, Paragraph 8.102, and stated that the representations submitted by West Midlands Police (WMP) were just hear say and did not constitute exceptional circumstances. He further stated that the intelligence logs provided by WMP were unsubstantiated allegations that had not been scrutinised or upheld.

 

Mr Craig highlighted that the Home Office (Immigration Enforcement) had not objected to the application and there was no evidence from any other authority, such as Trading Standards or HMRC, to support the information submitted by WMP.

 

He scrutinised the intelligence provided by WMP and stated the following:

  • The Applicant held a licence with the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) and was therefore subject to regular checks from HMRC.
  • None of the premises owned by the Applicant sold cigarettes so it was highly unlikely they were selling illicit cigarettes.
  • There were no illegal workers at any of the Applicant’s premises and there was a list of employees and their NI numbers to prove this.
  • The Applicant did not sell products unfit for human consumption and their restaurant had a 5 Star hygiene rating.
  • Immigration Enforcement had never visited any of the Applicant’s premises as they had no concerns or reasons to do so.
  • None of the premises owned by the Applicant had been subject to a premises licence review.
  • The telephone numbers referred to within the intelligence logs were not the Applicants.
  • The intelligence logs had never been investigated; one log gave no premises address details, and another referred to a premise that was not owned by the Applicant.
  • Some intelligence logs were from six years ago.
  • The Applicant had been a successful business owner for over a decade.
  • The Applicant was extremely upset by the allegations and utterly refuted the claims.

 

The Chair afforded all parties present the opportunity to question the Applicant and their representative in relation to its submission.

 

Mr Duncan Craig and the Applicant responded to questions asked.

 

The Chair invited West Midlands Police to make representations.

 

PC Michelle Churm did so as per Appendix 2 of the report and additional Supplementary Packs. She referred to the Revised Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003, Paragraph 8.101, and stated that WMP had objected to the application in exceptional circumstance as they believed that granting the application  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4