Agenda item
Application for Review of a Premises Licence - Capitol Express, 11 Snowden Parade, Vinters Park, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5NS
- Meeting of Licensing Act 2003 Sub Committee, Thursday 16th November, 2017 10.00 am (Item 37.)
- View the background to item 37.
Minutes:
The Chairman requested that all those participating in the hearing identified themselves as follows:
Councillor Mrs Springett – Committee Chairman
Councillor Newton – Committee Member
Councillor Mrs Robertson – Committee Member
Mr Robin Harris – Legal Advisor
Mrs Lorraine Neale – Senior Licensing Officer
Mrs Caroline Matthews – Democratic Services Officer
Mr Ferhat Ok – Applicant
Mr Bulent Ok – Witness and Representative
Mr Oliver Jewell – Kent County Council Trading Standards
PC Neil Barnes – Kent Police
The Chairman asked all parties to confirm that they were aware of the hearing procedure and that each had a copy of the procedure document.
The Committee Members confirmed that they had pre-read all the papers and any other documents contained in the report regarding the hearing.
The Legal Advisor outlined the application and advised that an application for a review of the premises licence had been brought by Mr Jewell on behalf of Kent County Council Trading Standards in respect of the premises Capitol Express, 11 Snowden Parade, Vinters Park, Maidstone, Kent ME14 5NS.
The Members of the Committee were advised that during the consultation period representations were received from Police in support of the review application made by Kent County Council Trading Standards.
The Chairman invited the applicant, Mr Jewell on behalf of Trading Standards to provide his opening remarks. Mr Jewell detailed the incidences that had led up to the request for a review of the premises licence which included:
·
The premises licence was reviewed by Trading
Standards in 2013 following a failed test purchase where Mr B Ok
had sold alcohol and cigarettes to minors.
·
In March 2015 complaints were made to Trading
Standards about the possibility of counterfeit spirits being on
sale in the premises.
·
In June 2015 a member of the public reported that
Capitol Express was known to local children that they sold alcohol
and tobacco to minors who would be instructed to wait out the back
to receive their purchases.
·
In February 2017 there were complaints of
anti-social behaviour in the Snowden Parade area which the
residents had attributed to young people drinking alcohol having
purchased it at Capitol Express.
In February 2017 a test purchase was made by a 15 year old
volunteer who managed to successfully buy a single can of beer from
Mr F Ok even though he had challenged him about his age and the
test purchaser could not provide any ID.
PC Barnes and himself attended the premises soon
after and spoke to Mr F Ok. Photographs
were taken of the refusals book and training records. Photographs were also taken around the store to
show that Challenge 25 posters were no longer on display.
Whilst in the store their attention was drawn to a number of
bottles of spirits which showed signs of duty evasion due to
labelling inconsistencies or extremely poor quality on other
labels. A total of 28 bottles of
spirits were seized for further investigation.
A follow up visit was made by Trading Standards and
Kent Police in April 2017. The visit
was undertaken to check compliance with the conditions of the
current premises licence.
A number of points were noted in relation to the conditions of the
licence which were in contravention.
KCC were seeking for the licence to be revoked as
this was not the first occasion that an incident of this type had
taken place and the Trading Standards department had no faith in
the owners of the premises safeguarding children. Furthermore the smuggling of goods was a crime and
disorder matter. In view of all the
evidence put before the Committee, the Trading Standards
department
recommended that the Council revoked the premises
licence.
The footage from the hidden camera was shown to the
Committee at that point.
The Chairman invited the respondents, Mr F Ok and Mr B Ok, to address the Committee.
Mr B Ok made the following points:-
·
That the youths congregating in the area might be
there because of the take away food outlets and strongly denied
that alcohol had been provided to underage drinkers.
·
That in relation to ‘smuggled goods’ his
position and that of Mr F Ok was that they had purchased the items
in good faith from a ‘cash and carry’ outlet and had
taken reasonable steps to ascertain that they were
genuine. However, they were unable to
show a legitimate source for the goods and accepted that this made
it more likely that the goods were not legitimate. They both ultimately accepted that the goods were
not genuine.
·
Mr B Ok stated that in respect of the refusals book,
this had not been fraudulently altered, he had simply used a
previous sheet because he had no other sheet available and he was
not aware of what else he should do.
·
He observed that both Mr F Ok and himself were not criminals.
·
He disagreed that the electronic warning alert on
the till would be a quick fix.
Determination:
The Committee determined that the premises licence be
revoked.
Reasons for determination:
Prevention of Crime and Disorder – The Sub-Committee heard from PC Neil Barnes that the premises were associated with crime and disorder on the basis of the evidence set out in Appendix B of the Committee papers.
The Sub-Committee did not find that the presence of youths around the shop involved in anti-social behaviour or the presence of ‘smuggled goods’ was, given the available evidence, on the balance of probabilities a breach of the Objective of Preventing Crime and Disorder, but notwithstanding that, the Sub-Committee determined that the premises were associated with Crime and Disorder due to the convictions following guilty pleas in the Medway Magistrates Court on 11th September 2017.
The Sub-Committee were also dissatisfied that the lack of an audit trail for the purchase of alcohol and the explanation given for the amendment of the refusals book.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Section 182 Guidance states at paragraph 11.28 that:
Where
reviews arise and the licensing authority determines that the crime
prevention objective is being undermined through the premises being
used to further crimes, it is expected that revocation of the
licence – even in the first instance – should be
seriously considered.
Protection of Children from harm – The Sub-Committee heard
from Mr Oliver Jewell from Kent County Council Trading Standards
that the premises had failed to promote the licensing objective of
protecting children from harm on the basis of the evidence set out
in Appendix A of the Committee papers.
In
response Mr B Ok noted that a sale of the business was in motion
and that taking action against the licence at this point might
jeopardise that sale. Mr B Ok stated
that the issues around the premises were the fault of Mr F Ok and
that he should be able to carry on the business. Mr B Ok also stated that the previous test
purchase failure when he had made an underage sale was unfair and
inconsistent with Trading Standards Guidance. Mr. Jewell denied this and the Chairman of the
Sub-Committee rejected this assertion.
The Sub-Committee determined that the DPS made a sale to an
underage person where, not only was the sale made, but a deliberate
attempt was made to conceal it. Further
to that, as part of the investigation following the sale it came to
light that there was not adequate record keeping either in respect
of refusals or having an audit trail for their purchases of
alcohol.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Section 182 Guidance states at paragraph 11.30:-
However, where persistent sales of alcohol to children have occurred at premises, and it is apparent that those managing the premises do not operate a responsible policy or have not exercised appropriate due diligence, responsible authorities should consider taking steps to ensure that a review of the licence is the norm in these circumstances. This is particularly the case where there has been a prosecution for the offence under Section 147A or a closure notice has been given under Section 169A of the 2003 Act. In determining the review, the licensing authority should consider revoking the licence if it considers this appropriate.
Conclusion:
The Sub-Committee noted that there was a clear overlap between the licensing objectives of Preventing Crime and Disorder and Protecting Children from Harm in this case.
The Sub-Committee were not satisfied that taking no action until the proposed sale had completed was appropriate in a case where there had been two underage sales leading to criminal convictions and there was evidence of weak management processes in the premises.
For the reasons given above the appropriate and proportionate action as to revoke the premises licence.
Supporting documents:
- Application for Review of a Premises Licence - Capitol Express, 11 Snowden Parade, Vinters Park, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5NS, item 37. PDF 164 KB View as HTML (37./1) 69 KB
- A Appendix - Licence review Capitol Express, item 37. PDF 2 MB
- B Appendix - Police reps - Capitol Express, item 37. PDF 1 MB
- C Appendix - Capitol Premise Licence A, item 37. PDF 115 KB View as HTML (37./4) 43 KB
- D Appendix Plan of the premises, item 37. PDF 59 KB
- E Appendix Plan of the area, item 37. PDF 182 KB
- F Appendix HUMAN RIGHTS, item 37. PDF 34 KB View as HTML (37./7) 11 KB
- G Appendix Review Hearing Procedure, item 37. PDF 125 KB View as HTML (37./8) 42 KB
- Urgent Update to Report, item 37. PDF 30 KB View as HTML (37./9) 2 KB