Agenda item

The police representative stated that this review had been submitted following an incident on the 13 February, which led to a summary review, and long running management issues as detailed on pages 178-182 of the agenda. On the 13 February an intoxicated member of the public entered the shop and instead of seeking help, staff took matters into their own hands. There was a violent fight and the member of public was stabbed by an employee with, what has been described, a Rambo knife. Another staff member was waving a pole. When police attended, two members of staff had fled the scene and one was caught in possession of drugs. Police had not been called. The police were informed that the knife would be retained and provided but when asked for the knife, staff did not know where it had been. The following day, a member of staff, assaulted another member of the public.  There were clear failures of management, there had been a failure to train staff and notify police when there had been incidents. This was not to be expected where there was a 24 hour licence in operation. There had been no further incidents so for this reason the police had proposed licensing conditions and asked that the hours be modified to framework hours of 8am to 11pm. This was considered to be a fair and reasonable solution. The Sub-Committee were shown CCTV of the incident on the 13 February.

In response to questions, it was noted that the knife had not been recovered, despite the Sub-Committee being informed, at the summary review, that the knife was available in the kitchen of the premises.   There was still an ongoing criminal investigation of the incident awaiting the decision of the crown prosecution service.

The Licensing Authority supported the review and recommended the conditions and the modification to hours. The licensee must ensure that these violent incidents were not repeated. They could undertake not to have knives or weapons in the shop for sale.  The Trading Standards officer said that she supported the review.  Officers had removed illicit alcohol from the premises and they had asked the licensee to join the No Knife Scheme but this had been refused.  They proposed trading standard conditions be added to the licence and would also like a condition that the premises did not sell knives in the future.

In response to questions the trading standards officer stated that the premises had refused to implement the no knife scheme on a visit in January 2022, before the visit in question.  Illicit alcohol had also been discovered on this visit.

The licensees’ representative gave an apology on behalf of the licensee in relation to all of the failings and in particular the incident on the 13 February. Both staff involved no longer worked at the premises. The licensee had taken steps to improve and is willing to change.  An incident log and refusals book were now being maintained.  He was happy to commit to no sale of knives, in fact he understood that no knives had been sold for many years. There were only two knives kept on the premises and one of these was for the preparation of water melons. Illicit alcohol had been found on the premises but this had been a one off incident. The alcohol had been purchased from a cash and carry and was uk duty no paid. It was subsequently withdrawn from the premises and there had been no repeats of that.  The licensee was happy to continue with Challenge 25. There was a range of options open to the Sub-Committee rather than to revoke the licence and he considered that more stringent conditions were inevitable. There had been no problems at the premises in the past three months. The licensee was agreeable to all conditions proposed with the exception of two: condition 20 and 24. Regarding condition 20, the licensee was concerned that should 16 and 17 year olds be refused admission, this would cause problems late at night. He proposed an alternative that, under 16s not be allowed in after midnight. Regarding condition 24 he asked that a year be given in order to train a personal licence holder. With regard to the modification of hours he considered that the licensee had shown that he could be trusted with a 24 hour licence over the past three months. If a reduction in hours was considered necessary a temporary restriction between the hours of 2am and 8am be applied to sufficiently demonstrate that the licensee could manage a 24 hour licence.  If there were any issues then it would be open for responsible authorities to bring the licence forward for review.

In response to questions, it was noted that the man with the knife had not worked in the premises since the incident.  The licensee’s representative stated that the incidents were not linked to the purchase of alcohol and the members of the public were already intoxicated. The member of staff came out of the premises to diffuse the situation. He did not know the people involved and they were isolated incidents. Regarding the illicit alcohol that had been found on the premises, the name of the wholesaler had been provided to trading standards. It was confirmed that illicit alcohol could sometimes be sold from a genuine cash and carry wholesaler. The knife used to cut the water melons was locked away after 7pm. Knives had not been sold for many years and only plastic cutlery was sold from the premises.

In summary, the police stated that, due to the seriousness of the incidents, the licence be modified and amended to framework hours. Crime and disorder had not been reported to the police, which was a breach of condition, and incidents had shown how the premises dealt with drunk customers. They had no issue with the conditions 20 and 24 being amended as requested by the licensee’s representative.  The licensee’s representative stated that the premises was engaging with the responsible authorities and he hoped that the improvement gave an indication that the licensee was a responsible licence holder and could run a 24 hour licence.

RESOLVED

1)      That the premises licence, in respect of Holloway Food Store, 59-61 Seven Sisters Road, N7 6BH, be modified to restrict the sale of alcohol to the hours of 8am to 11pm.

2)      The following conditions shall also be applied to the licence:-

Conditions detailed on page 191 of the agenda and the tabled police conditions with the following amendments:-

         Annex 3.1 condition to be removed from the current licence.

         Condition 20 (tabled conditions) to read: The licensee will maintain a    policy restricting the admission of children under the age of 16 on the         premises: the sign will read After 11pm no persons under the age of 16    shall be permitted on the premises unless accompanied by an adult.

         Additional condition: No knives shall be sold on the premises.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The Sub-Committee listened to all the evidence and submissions and read all the material. The Sub-Committee reached the decision having given consideration to the Licensing Act 2003, as amended, and its regulations, the national guidance and the Council’s Licensing Policy.

The Sub-Committee noted that the review brought by the police was supported by the licensing authority and trading standards.

The Sub-Committee noted the timeline of events presented by the police and that the licensee was appointed as the designated premises supervisor (DPS) on the 4 November 2020. The Sub-Committee also noted the serious incident that triggered the review that took place on 13 February 2022, the further incident on 14 February 2022 and licence breaches at the premises.

The Sub-Committee noted that there had been no further incidents at the premises since 14 February 2022 and the two members of staff involved were no longer at the premises.

The Sub-Committee noted the modified conditions submitted by the police that were agreed by the licensee except for condition 24 and the proposed reduction in hours. The Sub-Committee noted the police agreement to the modification of condition 20.

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that because of the steps taken by the licensee to address the management of the premises that it was not appropriate or proportionate to revoke or suspend the licence. However, the imposition of modified conditions was both appropriate and proportionate.  The recent incidents at the premises were serious and occurred outside of framework hours.  The Sub-Committee concluded that the restricted hours were necessary to promote the licensing objective relating to crime and disorder.

The Sub-Committee noted the licensee’s proposal for a temporary change in hours so that alcohol would not be sold between 2am and 8am for one month and if there was a problem the responsible authorities could bring the matter back for a further review. The licensing Sub-Committee decided that the proposed temporary change was not sufficient to promote the licensing objectives and that it was not satisfactory to put the onus on the responsible authorities to bring a further review.

The Sub-Committee decided to impose condition 24 with immediate effect as it was appropriate and proportionate for a personal licence holder to be on the premises in view of the premises history, the requirements for high management standards and promotion of the licensing objectives. The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the licence holder would not need 12 months to comply with this condition.

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the modified conditions including the reduced hours would promote the licensing objectives.