Agenda and minutes

The Chair will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Chair welcomed all present and explained the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

To receive apologies for absence and details of any Councillor nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member listed above.

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any interest they may have in the item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider an application for review of the Premises Licence for Costcutter Supermarket, Woodrow Centre, Redditch.

(Report attached)

The Sub-Committee considered an application to review the premises licence for Costcutter Supermarket, Unit 31, Woodrow Centre, Redditch B98 7RY following receipt of a request for an application from  PC Neil Sharpe, West Mercia Police.

PC Sharpe, the Applicant attended, together with the following witnesses: PC Nigel Bennett, West Mercia Police; Tracey Blanchard, Fair Trading Officer, Worcestershire County Council and Steven Wood, Licensing Enforcement Officer, Redditch Borough Council. The Joint Premises Licence Holders for the premises concerned, Mr Mohammed Sajid Ali and Mr Javid Iqbal, who was also the Designated Premises Supervisor, were in attendance and were represented by Ms Jill Sherratt, their legal representative.

At the outset of the hearing the parties to the application confirmed that they were content for the hearing to take place despite the Licensing Authority failing to serve the notice of the hearing within the timescales set out in the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) (Amendment) Regulations 2005. The parties to the application also confirmed that they agreed to the acceptance of the covering report pertaining to the Application which had been circulated subsequent to the notice to rectify an omission in the initial distribution.

Introducing the report, the Licensing Officer advised that the application for a review of the Premises Licence had been received from West Mercia Police on the grounds that the store had failed to promote two of the four licensing objectives from the Licensing Act 2003, the protection of children from harm and the prevention of crime and disorder. As a consequence of the occurrences detailed within the report, the Police were reported to have no confidence in the Premises Licence Holders.

It was reported that alcohol had been sold to minors on three separate occasions at the premises in the previous eight months, two of these sales taking place during Trading Standards test purchase operations. Following the first two underage sales, the Premises Licence Holders attended a meeting at Redditch Police Station with the District Inspector for Redditch, Inspector Ian Joseph and PC Sharpe at which they were informed that further offences of underage sales could result in an application to review their Premises Licence. The evidence produced by West Mercia Police in support of their application was appended to the report and comprised statements from PC Sharpe, PC Bennett, Ms Blanchard, Mr Wood and Ms Adrienne Plunkett of the Safeguarding Children Authority who expressed her support for the review application via an e-mail which was also attached.

Following the presentation by the Licensing Officer, PC Sharpe addressed the hearing and reiterated the concerns of the West Mercia Police and the reasons for them suggesting the course of action that they were recommending, namely that of revoking the Premises Licence. PC Sharpe introduced the witnesses, PC Bennett, Ms Blanchard and Mr Wood who presented their evidence to the Sub-Committee.

Ms Sherratt, legal representative, presented the case on behalf of the Premises Licence Holders. It was stated that the Licence Holders did not intend to make excuses  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.