Agenda and minutes
Venue: The Council Chamber, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Simmi Yesmin, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4120, E-mail: simmi.yesmin@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, ensured that introductions were made and then briefly outlined the procedure of the meeting.
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: There were no apologies for absence.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 25 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Chief Executive.
Minutes: Councillor Kabir Ahmed, declared a personal interest in agenda item 4.3, application to review the premises license for Perfect Fried Chicken, 214 Mile End Road, London E1 4JL on the basis that he may have ate at the shop once.
Councillor David Snowdon, declared a personal interest in agenda item 4.3, application to review the premises license for Perfect Fried Chicken, 214 Mile End Road, London E1 4JL on the basis that he knew Mr Ahmed Hussain who was speaking in support of the premises. However, Councillor Snowdon confirmed that he had not been contacted by Mr Hussain regarding the application.
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To note the rules of procedure which are attached for information. Minutes: The Rules of Procedures were noted.
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ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Minutes: This item was postponed at the request of the Premises License Holder and has now been rescheduled to be considered at the Licensing Sub Committee meeting to be held on 31st August 2010.
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Additional documents:
Minutes: At the request of the Chair, Mr Nick Kemp, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for London Food Centre, 407 Roman Road, London E3 5QS. It was noted that the review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police.
At the request of the Chair, PC Andy Jackson, on behalf of Metropolitan Police explained that the premises had been reviewed twice before under it’s former name Buy to Save and gave a brief history of the premises. He explained that during a visit together with HMRC Customs and Excise on 18th November 2009, an examination of the stock being sold revealed that a large quantity of both spirits and wine were believed to be smuggled and these were later seized. It was noted that a total of 265.5 litres of wine and 229.4 litres of spirits had been seized. He explained that a further visit was made to the premises on 20th January 2010 by Police, Customs and Excise and Trading Standards, again on this occasion officers found 189 smuggled bottles of wine and 38.3 litres of spirits which were either smuggled or bore counterfeit customs stamps. In addition a further 12.3 litres of counterfeit champagne and vodka was seized, also no premise license was displayed at the premises. The owners were given 28 days to give receipt for the goods but none were received. It was noted that the total amount of duty and VAT evaded was £4664.
Mr Jackson explained that after January 2010, the license had been transferred over to new owners. Another visit was conducted on 5th March 2010, when operating under new owners, and also found numerous licensing offences.
He referred Members to the DCMS guidance with regard to the sale of smuggled/counterfeit goods which states that the sale of smuggled goods was a criminal activity and was to be treated particularly seriously and therefore advised Members that revocation should be considered.
Mr Jackson also stated that there was suspicion that last operators still worked in the premises. It was noted that the new owners had on one occasion gave Police the details of a van selling smuggled/counterfeit alcohol.
Mr Jackson concluded by referring to the supporting document of PC Alan Cruickshank who had visited the premises on 8th May 2010 as a test purchase exercise and was able to buy a can of cider at 02:15 hours, after licensed hours. Mr Cruickshank confirmed that display shutters were not closed and while still in the shop another male had placed cans of larger on the counter with the intent of purchasing them.
At the request of the Chair Mr Dilver Taskiran, DPS explained that they had brought the shop three months ago, and that the incidents regarding smuggled/counterfeit alcohol was the responsibility of the previous owners and not them. He asked for Members to give them another chance to prove that they are able to promote and uphold the ... view the full minutes text for item 4.2 |
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Additional documents: Minutes: At the request of the Chair, Mr Nick Kemp, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for Perfect Fried Chicken, 214 Mile End Road, London E1 4LJ. It was noted that the review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police.
At the request of the chair, PC Alan Cruickshank on behalf of Metropolitan Police referred to his statement on pages 284-286. He highlighted the incidents which had taken place, involving extremely violent attacks it was noted that on all occasions the CCTV camera was either not working or staff were not able to download images. As a result officers went to speak to the Premises License Holders and reminded them of the conditions attached to the license one of which is to have CCTV cameras in operation whilst there are licensable activities.
He then highlighted a recent incident on 1st May 2010 at 04:19, when police were called outside the premises where a male had been stabbed. It was noted that the victim and his brother were in the premises eating when a male entered and started arguing and then told him to come outside which is when the assault took place. It was noted that yet again the CCTV camera was not working and the premises was open past its closing hours of 03:00 hours. Mr Cruickshank explained that even if CCTV cameras were working there was no staff on duty whom could have downloaded the images. The Police Officers spoke to both Premise License Holders again, Ms Salima Khatun, Premises License Holder informed Police Officers that cameras were not working and would be fixed by 6th May 2010. Again there was confusion about the closing hours as Mr Kabir Ahmed, Premise License Holder believed that he should stop serving at 03:00 hours and then his customers could take as long as they needed to finish eating. Ms Khatun offered to employ one SIA door supervisor on busy nights. Mr Cruickshank then referred to the petition in support of the premises submitted on behalf of the Premises License Holders and highlighted that there was no addresses and had frivolous comments on them, therefore asked member to consider what weight to give them.
Mr Cruickshank concluded by stating that overall there had been five serious incidents of crime and disorder, resulting in either GBH or ABH on the victims. There have been a clear breach of the CCTV conditions and the premises had been open past its licensed hours. The lack of CCTV cameras has stopped the early identification of any suspects and by operating after hours, disorder had occurred in the shop also leading to assaults outside in the street. He therefore urged Members to consider removing their late night refreshments license.
In response to a question by a Member it was noted that no one was trained to download CCTV footage and level of CCTV compliance was low.
Maria Guida, Legal Representative for the Premises License ... view the full minutes text for item 4.3 |