Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alison Cornelius, seconded by Councillor Brian Salinger, nominated Councillor John Hart to preside as Chairman for the evening.

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The Chairman explained the procedure that would be followed for the meeting.

The sub-committee considered a Review of the premises licence for Burnt Oak Off Licence, 140 Burnt Oak Broadway, London HA8 0EJ, together with submissions from the Licensing Officer, the Applicant, and Trading Standards Enforcement.

RESOLVED that the parties be excluded from the meeting, together with the press and public, in accordance with regulation 14(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings and Regulations) 2005.

The Sub-Committee deliberated in private session, accompanied by officers from HB Public Law and the London Borough of Barnet Governance Service.

The parties to the application were readmitted to the meeting and the Chairman conveyed that the Committee’s decision would be advised to the applicant and the respondent within 5 working days. The Committee further deliberated the case and it was RESOLVED that the licence for the premises is revoked.

Decision Notice

This was an application for a review of the premises licence for Burnt Oak Off Licence, 140 Burnt Oak Broadway, London HA8 0EJ.  The review of the premises licence, under s.51 of the Licensing Act 2003, was made by the Metropolitan Police and relates to the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety. It follows a search of the premises on 24^th January 2017 whereby alcohol and tobacco, suspected to be non-UK duty paid were found in the premises.

The Sub-Committee has reviewed and considered the written and oral evidence and representations set out within the papers and put forward by the parties.

We have heard representations from the premises licence holder and DPS, Mr Thiyagarajah Kanthakumar who attended the hearing today with his representative. 

We have heard representations from the Metropolitan Police, that following a search of the premises on 24^th January 2017 with both HMRC and the London Borough of Barnet’s Trading Standards team and Licensing Team, a significant quantity of alcohol and tobacco was found on the premises which was suspected to have been smuggled into the UK and be non-UK Duty paid.  According to their evidence, this was due to the pricing of a lot of the alcohol being indicative of UK duty not having been paid and that there was alcohol that had not been packaged for sale in the UK.  Following the inspection, HMRC confirmed that cigarettes and alcohol to the value of £7,909.42 had been seized by HMRC. 

In addition to the goods seized, two further concerns have been raised by the Police, namely customers are being provided with the means to mix their drinks and consume alcohol on the street.  Plastic cups were found behind the counter of the premises which were identical to cups found discarded outside the premises together with miniature spirit bottles and soft drink cans.  Furthermore two metal bars were found behind the counter, although it was not clear what they were used for..

A further visit was carried out on 11^th April 2017 by the Metropolitan Police and a representative from Imperial Tobacco UK & Ireland.  Polish Marlborough Lights were found under the counter near the till.  These cigarettes were seized as they were believed to being sold under the counter.   We are advised that the alcohol was competitively priced throughout the premises although slightly cheaper than typical pricing in other stores.

We have also heard representations from the London Borough of Barnet’s Licensing Team and Trading Standards team that was consistent with the Police’s evidence regarding the inspection on 24^th January 2017 and in relation to the value of the alcohol and tobacco seized by HMRC.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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