At the request of the Chair, Mr Mohshin Ali, Acting Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for Fairprice Cash & Carry, 524 Roman Road, London E3 5ES. 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 46.2 litres of mixed spirits were found, which displayed counterfeit duty stamps. Further examination of the wine on sale had also revealed that there were 30 bottles (22.5 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 £527.68.

Mr Jackson then referred to the supporting documents submitted by the Mr Safdar Hussain, Premises Licence Holder consisting of receipts and invoices from cash and carries dating a few months prior to the visit at the premises. Mr Jackson explained that whilst it did not prove that the alcohol was purchased from wholesalers it did confirm that Mr Hussain did purchase alcohol from wholesalers on a regular basis.

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 small amount of goods found, compared to other premises that had been reviewed, Mr Jackson suggested that in this instance a series of conditions be imposed.

At the request of the Chair, Ms Riffat Malik, Legal Representative for the Premise License Holder, explained that they were happy for the suggested conditions to be imposed and that Mr Hussain was happy to cooperate with the police. She explained that Mr Hussain had purchased the alcohol as a mistake and was unaware of the fact that they were counterfeit goods. She explained that Mr Hussain had always purchased from reliable cash and carries and referred to the supporting documents (receipts from the wholesalers). She then addressed the issues raised by trading standards in relation to underage sale and confirmed that the following training programmes were already in place to prevent this from happening again, such as staff training to discourage underage sale of alcohol and tobacco, knowledge of licensing law, awareness of licensing policies and procedures, guidance on how to assess age and advice on handling refusals.

In response to a question Mr Hussain stated that he would comply with all rules and regulations, taking extra precautions when purchasing alcohol and would adhere to the new conditions that had been suggested by the Police.

The Chair advised that the Sub Committee would at 7.40pm adjourn to consider the evidence presented. Members reconvened at 7.50pm. The Chair reported that;

Having heard representations from the Metropolitan Police and from the Premise Licence Holder, members decided to MODIFY the conditions on the licence by imposing further conditions as listed below, in order to further the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder.

Members had regard to the relatively small amounts of non-duty paid wine and spirits that had been found on the premises, and the 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). 

Members were conscious that it was not their role to determine the guilt or innocence of any individual.  Nevertheless, they were of the view that the licence holder in this case had not been guilty of any intentional wrong doing and would introduce measures to promote the licensing objectives.  They had regard to the fact that the responsible authority was no longer seeking suspension of the licence. 

Members were concerned about the presence of non-duty paid alcohol at the premises and considered that it was necessary in order to promote the relevant licensing objective that further conditions should be imposed on the licence.  This would help to prevent crime and disorder associated with the sale of counterfeit and non-duty paid items on the premises in the future. 

RESOLVED

That the review application for Fairprice Cash & Carry, 524 Roman Road, London E3 5ES, be GRANTED 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 they are from a bona fide company.

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

i)          Seller’s name and address

ii)         Seller’s company details, if applicable

iii)                Seller’s VAT details, if applicable

iv)                Seller’s vehicle details, if applicable

3)         Copies of the documents referred to in 2) shall be retained on the premises and made available to officers on request within 1 week of the request.

4)         An ultra violet light will be used at the store to check the authenticity of all stock purchased which bears a customs stamp.

5)         The premises licence holder shall inform the Police and LBTH Trading Standards if any counterfeit goods are found.