At the request of the Chair, Ms Kathy Driver, Acting Principal Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for Teviot Food and Wine, 173 – 175 Teviot Street, London E14 6PY. It was noted that the review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police. 

At the request of the Chair, Mr Andy Jackson explained that the review related to a series of operations run jointly with Police, Trading Standards and HRMC Customs. It was noted that certain off licences were identified following a review of intelligence from all three agencies. The premise was visited on 21^st April 2010, on entry to the premises, a total of 89.6 litres (128 bottles) of mixed spirits were found, which displayed counterfeit duty stamps. Further examination of the wine on sale revealed that there were 305 bottles (228.75 litres) of mixed wine which were non duty paid, these were then seized. There had been no receipts produced for the goods at the time the goods were seized and nor within the 28 day period. It was noted that the goods seized amounted to total duty evaded of £1512.62.

Mr Jackson referred Members to the DCMS guidance which stated that the sale of smuggled tobacco and alcohol should be treated particularly seriously. Due to the large amount of goods found, he urged members to revoke the license in this instance in order to send a powerful message to the premises and to all other off licenses in the area.

At the request of the Chair, Mr Nick Arron, Legal Representative for the Premise License Holder, presented the Sub Committee with some receipts for the purchase of alcohol, he explained that the premises was a well run business where large quantities are sold. Mr Arron explained that the alcohol was purchased in good faith legitimately form wholesalers. It was noted that the quantities of wine were also brought legitimately from MDD Trading wholesalers. He explained that from the 89.6 litres of spirits, 56 litres have receipts which show that these were brought from the wholesalers, however the remaining 35.6 litres of sprits were left over from a family wedding which was held on 20^th October 2007, where large quantities were purchased for the wedding and the remaining bottles were stored at the shop, not on the shop premise but in the store room.

Mr Arron then referred to supporting documents, which highlighted the Premises License Holder’s good character, his responsible attitude and his award for bravery. It was noted that he had been trading since 1984, he had helped the Police on many occasions, by obtaining a number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders within the area, and in 1991 he was held at gun point and shot at the shop for which he was awarded a Gallantry Award from the Police for his bravery.

Mr Arron suggested some amendments to the conditions set out in page 83 of the agenda from Trading Standards. He explained that the alcohol was brought in good faith. He was an experienced shop keeper, a family shop with no issues of crime and disorder and that two underage sales test were correctly refused in the last 6 months and therefore felt that revocation was not proportionate.

In response to questions it was noted that the Police were only made aware of the receipts from the wholesalers two weeks ago, however it had been difficult to get hold of customs to vary this. It was noted that 54 litres of the mixed sprits and the wine was accounted for in the receipts, however the 36.5 litres of sprits could not be accounted for as they were left over from the wedding. In response to a further question, Mr Jackson did confirm that most of the alcohol seized was found in the storage area. It was noted that HRMC Customs were investigating into MDD Trading.

After hearing the representation on behalf of the Premise License Holder, Mr Andy Jackson recommended suspension, and additional conditions should be considered in this instance.

The Chair advised that the Sub Committee would at 2.45pm adjourn to consider the evidence presented. Members reconvened at 3.05pm. The Chair reported that;

Having heard representations from the Metropolitan Police and from the Premise Licence Holder, Members decided to SUSPEND the licence for a period of one calendar month running from receipt of the decision notice and to MODIFY the conditions on the licence by imposing further conditions as listed below.  Both actions were in order to further the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder.

Members had regard to the relatively large quantities of non-duty paid wine and spirits that had been found on the premises, and the correspondingly large sums that had been lost to the revenue.  They had regard to the statutory guidance which provides that the sale of smuggled tobacco and alcohol should be treated “particularly seriously” when reviewing a licence (paragraph 11.26). 

They also had regard to the fact that this appeared to be the first case of illegal activity at the premises, and that the licence holder had now been able to account for the presence of the wines by production of a relevant receipt. 

They therefore decided that a period of suspension was necessary to promote the relevant licensing objective, in view of the seriousness of the problem in Tower Hamlets and in order to deter similar incidence of crime.

The Premise Licence Holder suggested that further conditions be imposed.  Members considered that these conditions were necessary for the prevention of similar incidence of illegal activity at the premises in future. 

RESOLVED

That the review application for Teviot Food and Wine, 173 – 175 Teviot Street, London E14 6PY, be GRANTED with the suspension of the sale of alcohol license for a period of one calendar month running from receipt of the decision notice and with the following conditions;

Conditions

1)     The premises licence holder and any other persons responsible for the purchase of stock shall not purchase any goods from door-to-door sellers unless a valid receipt is supplied at the time of the purchase.

2)     If stock is purchased from a door-to-door seller the premises licence holder shall ensure that a record is kept of the seller’s vehicle registration number.  

3)     The premises licence holder shall ensure that all receipts for goods bought include the following details:

a.       Seller’s name and address

b.      Seller’s company details, if applicable

c.       Seller’s VAT details, if applicable

4)     Copies of the documents referred to in 3) shall be made available to officers on request.

5)     An appropriate device for checking the authenticity of duty stamps (such as an ultra-violet lamp) shall be installed on the premises and retained in working order.

6)     The authenticity of the duty stamp on any goods shall be checked on receipt of those goods.

7)     The premises licence holder shall inform the police in the event that they are sold counterfeit goods or goods with a fake duty stamp.