Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Natasha Proctor be appointed Chair of the Licensing Panel Hearing.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interest made by Members.

[Note:  Licensing Panel minutes are:-

(1)          approved following each meeting by the Members serving on that particular occasion and signed as a correct record by the Chair for that meeting;

(2)          not submitted to the next panel meeting for approval.

Reasons: The Licensing Panel is constituted from a pooled membership. Consequently, a subsequent Panel meeting is likely to comprise a different Chair and Members who took no part in the previous meeting’s proceedings. The process referred to at (1) above provides appropriate approval scrutiny].

Report of the Corporate Director of Community.

In attendance:

Legal Adviser:  Laurie Marks

Licensing Officers: Ash Waghela and David Gilmour

Applicant: P C Beresford – Metropolitan Police

Also Present:  P C Downes – Metropolitan Police

No written representations were received from the Licensee, Georgina Monica Craciunescu, and she did not attend the hearing.

The Licensing Panel were informed that the application had been brought by the police for review of the licence on the grounds of breach of conditions of the licence and the undermining of the licensing objectives: prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, public safety and protection of children from harm.  The Panel were informed that both the police and Trading Standards were concerned that non duty paid alcohol and tobacco had been kept on the premises, which was an offence contrary to Section 144 of the Licensing Act.

The Licensing Panel carefully considered all relevant information including:

·                     written and oral representations by all the parties, full details of which were set put in the Decision Notice sent to all interested parties;

·                     the Licensing Act 2003 and the steps that were appropriate to promote the licensing objectives;

·                     the Guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (2018 being the most recent guidance);

·                     Harrow Council’s Licensing Policy;

·                     Human Rights Act 1998;

·                     the considerations in s.17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Members of the Panel took into consideration the following and asked questions of the parties present at the meeting, full details of which were set out in the Decision Notice sent to all interested parties:

-               that the licensee had failed to promote the licensing objectives and that the licensee was one of the main contributors of antisocial behaviour in the area.  The licensee had shown a complete disregard for the law by repeatedly storing smuggled goods contrary to Section 144 of the Licensing Act;

-               the shop was run by Mr Duta and not by Ms Craciunescu who was both the licence holder and the designated premises supervisor (DPS).  Mr Duta’s 14-year old son was seen receiving a delivery of cigarettes and placing it behind the counter.  The licensing objective of the protection of children from harm was being undermined;

-               unknown liquids in plain plastic bottles were being sold, which could have been harmful.  It was the third time that Carniprod had been caught selling non duty paid goods which undercut and undermined responsible retailers and potentially put the consumer at risk;

-               whilst the whole area had problems with street drinking, Carniprod was not helping by selling unidentifiable alcohol in unsealed bottles.  People were buying alcohol from Carniprod and drinking it on the streets;

-               on 31 March 2019, Mr Duta had failed to produce a certified copy of the licence, which was an offence under Section 57(7) of the Licensing Act.  The police were of the view that this displayed contempt for authority and the licensing regime. Mr Duta had shown no willingness to work with the police.  The licence holder and DPS appeared  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.