Agenda and minutes

Councillor Phil Graham welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves.  The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie.

Councillor Anjna Khurana substituted for Councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The licensing officer introduced all parties and stated that there was nothing further to add to the circulated report.

The Sub-Committee viewed the CCTV in relation to the incident provided by the police. In response to a question the police stated that there had been two members of the public involved. He stated that this review had been brought under S53A of the Licensing Act. The premises were licensed for alcohol and associated with serious crime. S53A powers were specifically aimed at tackling serious crime and disorder, in particular the use of guns and knives. The police had sought legal advice and the use of S53A was supported.  This incident was so serious that immediate steps must be taken.  The police considered that it was fair to describe the knife used as a Rambo knife and not one used to open boxes.  He would not think that it was appropriate that it had been used to slash a member of the public. It was accepted that the violence had been instigated by the drunk male victim. Staff had removed him from the store and the victim than threw fruit and the glass door which was possibly smashed in the process. Staff did not call the police, they armed themselves and attacked the male. Against the licensing objectives and a breach of licence conditions, the police were not called to the premises.  The suspect had now handed himself into the police and had been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and the possession of an offensive weapon.  On the following day there had been a further incident at the premises. A male entered the premises followed by another male who was friends with a member of staff. This male was punched which caused a facial injury and the loss of teeth. The police were not called as required.  This incident was still under investigation.  He stated that the sale of alcohol brought with it additional control and management. This incident highlighted that this control was not present at the venue.  Proper management and control was essential to prevent crime and disorder. He had no faith in the current management and invited the Sub-Committee to suspend the licence to allow further engagement and to mitigate the risk in relation to the sale of alcohol.  This was not the first time that issues regarding staff behaviour had come to light.

In response to questions it was stated that the victim had not bought any alcohol from the premises.  The window had been smashed and the victim had instigated the incident. The police stated that the issue began initially inside the shop but he was not sure that anything had been purchased.  When viewing the CCTV provided the police were confident that the weapon had been a Rambo knife. The police had a record of previous incidents which had not been included in the report as it had been put together at short notice. The police considered that although the incident was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 295.