Agenda item
Application to Review the Premises Licence for Singh Supermarket, 37 Roman Road, London E2 0HU
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Mr Tom Lewis, Team Leader Licensing, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises licence for Singh Supermarket, 37 Roman Road, London E2 0HU. It was noted that the review had been triggered by Trading Standards and supported by the Licensing Authority and the Metropolitan Police.
At the request of the Chair, Mr Nazir Ali, Trading Standards Officer explained that the premises was situated in a residential area, where there were grave concerns of crime and disorder and protection of children from harm from alcohol related crime. He referred to his review application on pages 91- 92 and explained that an employee of Singh Supermarket pleaded guilty to selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 on 14 July 2017, another employee pleaded guilty to selling alcohol outside the permitted licensed hours. It was also noted that a number of counterfeit, and non-duty paid products had been seized from the premises over the years. Mr Ali stated that there have been a number of serious offences where the management of Singh Supermarket put profits over public safety.
Mr Ali also explained that Mr Arora was the director of three companies and one of the premises situated in Harrow had also been found to be selling illicit tobacco. Therefore it was the view that he was not a fit or proper person to hold a licence or be a responsible Designated Premise Supervisor (DPS). Mr Ali concluded that counterfeit goods may pose a risk to public health and therefore no choice but to seek revocation of the premises licence.
Members then heard from Ms Corinne Holland, Licensing Officer representing the Licensing Authority. Ms Holland stated that the Licensing Authority supported the review which sought revocation of the licence. She detailed a number of breaches at the premises that has been made recorded in the database (listed on pages 128-129). Ms Holland concluded that there was a blatant disregard of the law and the breaches of the licensed times and conditions have occurred despite previous warnings from Trading Standards and the Licensing Authority and therefore it was the view that on a balance of probabilities the premises is likely to continue to undermine the licensing objectives.
Members then heard from PC Mark Perry, representing the Metropolitan Police, he explained that by allowing staff to sell alcohol to person aged under 18 demonstrated not only a lack or regard to the licensing objectives but also a lack of care to children. Despite failing a test purchase the management have allowed the premises to trade beyond their hours.
He concluded that the owners and management have shown that they cannot be trusted to comply with conditions imposed upon them and therefore urged members to revoke the premises licence.
At the request of the Chair, Mr Winston Brown, Legal Representative on behalf of the Premises Licence Holder, Mr Akbor Hossain, explained that all the concerns relate to the DPS, Mr Aurora, who is no longer at the premises. He explained that when Mr Hossain applied for the transfer of the licence in 2018, he had not realised that there was a separate form that needed to be completed in order to change the DPS. He highlighted that all the offences were made before Mr Hossain took over the management of the premises so he had no direct involvement in these offences. The offences were post August 2018 when the licence was transferred.
Mr Brown said it was clearly not proportionate to revoke the licence and was happy to agree to the conditions proposed by the Police and suggested a suspension to get the premises in order would be more appropriate and also suggested the removal of the DPS.
In response to questions the following was noted;
- That Mr Arora was listed as the DPS for two other premises one in Tower Hamlets and one in Harrow
- That a transfer of licence was received on 15 August 2018 but not a change of DPS form or its fee to change it
- That no transfer of DPS was made.
- That Mr Hossain believed that transferring the licence would automatically transfer the DPS.
- That Mr Hossain had only realised that the DPS had not changed once the agenda pack had been received.
- That Mr Hossain had no relations to Mr Arora and Mr Arora no longer had any involvement in the business.
- That the lease was still under Mr Arora’s name.
- That CCTV cameras were already in operation at the premises.
- That all offences pre date the transfer of the licence to Mr Hossain in August 2018.
- That staff were aware of licensing objectives and would be trained on a regular basis.
Members adjourned the meeting at 7.55pm to deliberate and reconvened at 8.40pm.
The Licensing Objectives
In considering the application, Members were required to consider the same in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended), the Licensing Objectives, the Home Office Guidance and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and in particular to have regard to the promotion of the four licensing objectives:
- The Prevention of Crime and Disorder;
- Public Safety;
- Prevention of Public Nuisance; and
- The Protection of Children from Harm
Consideration
Each application must be considered on its own merit. The Sub Committee had carefully considered all of the evidence before them and considered written and verbal representation from both the Applicant, representing Trading Standards and officers on behalf of the Licensing Authority and Metropolitan Police who were supporting the review. Members also heard from both the Premises License Holder and his Legal Representative. The representations made at the meeting had particular regard to the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the protection of children from harm.
The Sub Committee noted that no transfer of Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) was made at the time of the transfer of premises licence to Mr Akbor Hussein. As Premises License Holder, Mr. Hussein stated that this had been an error and misunderstanding on his part as he had believed that the transfer of licence was all he had to do to transfer the DPS. It was also noted that from August 2018, Mr Hussein had been in post and there had been no further issues. Members heard directly from Mr Hussein and found his statements to be credible.
The Sub Committee were of the view that the removal of Mr Manohar Singh Arora as the DPS would stop any further involvement or any mismanagement of the premises, given Mr. Arora’s involvement in matters complained of in the application for review. Removal of the DPS would also mean that there can be no sale of alcohol until a new DPS is appointed by Mr. Hussein and approved by the local authority.
Members noted all the previous contraventions and breaches of the premises licence, but were mindful that Mr Hussein was a new operator who had not been a party to these breaches, and these took place prior to him taking over the management of the premises. Members believed that the reduction in the hours of the licence to the Council’s framework hours and imposing of conditions suggested by the Police would help alleviate the concerns raised in the application for review.
Members reached a decision and the decision was unanimous. Members did not consider that revoking the premises licence would be reasonable and proportionate in upholding the licensing objectives. Members granted the application in part by removing the DPS, reducing the hours, and adding conditions to the operating schedule to help promote the licensing objectives.
Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously:-
RESOLVED
That the application for a Review of the Premises Licence for Singh Supermarket, 37 Roman Road London E2 0HU be GRANTED in part with the removal of the DPS, a reduction in hours, and imposing of conditions.
Sale of Alcohol (off sales only)
Monday to Thursday from 06:00 hrs to 23:30 hrs
Friday and Saturday from 06:00 hrs to 00:00 hrs (midnight)
Sunday 06:00 hrs to 22:30 hrs
Removal of Designated Premises Supervisor
The removal of Mr Manohar Singh Arora as the Designated Premises Supervisor with immediate effect.
Conditions
1. A CCTV system to be put in place, the cameras are to be of sufficient quality so that people’s faces are clearly identifiable from the footage. The cameras are to be placed in such a way as they cover areas of the premises specified by the Police.
2. The system is to record the footage and to keep it for a minimum of 30 days, and a copy of the CCTV footage is to be available to the Police or the Local Authority upon request (subject to data protection legislation).
3. While the premises are open to the public, a member of staff must be on duty who can operate the CCTV system.
4. An incident report book is to be kept and used to record all incidents of crime and disorder as well as any incidents of note. This book is to be made available on request to any Police Officer or a representative of a Responsible Authority.
5. The premises shall operate a Challenge 25 policy – sale of alcohol scheme.
6. The premises shall have a refusal log recording all refusals of the sale of alcohol, this log will contain the date of the attempted sale, description of why the dale was refused, and will be signed off by the duty manager at the end of every day and be made available to Police or Local Authority on request.
Supporting documents:
- Singh Supermarket cover report, item 3.2 PDF 166 KB
- Singh Supermarket Appendices Only, item 3.2 PDF 9 MB
- N.Ali.Email_Redacted - 1, item 3.2 PDF 86 KB
- Arora Supermarket LOW_Redacted - 2, item 3.2 PDF 285 KB
- Manohar Arora LOW (3)_Redacted - 3, item 3.2 PDF 275 KB
- Manohar Singh Arora DPS - 4, item 3.2 PDF 60 KB