Agenda item
Application by the Metropolitan Police for the review of a premises licence held by Mr Aziz Ahmed and Mrs Bhadravati Ahmed at the premises known as Jamies News & Convenience Store (Lyon Park Avenue, Wembley HA0 4HG), pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.
Minutes:
Responsible Authority
Paul Whitcomb Brent Licensing Police
Michael Sullivan Brent Licensing Police
Applicant
Noel Samaroo Agent
Aizaz Ahmed Premises Licence Holder
Decision
That the application by the Metropolitan Police for the review of a premises licence held by Mr Aziz Ahmed and Mrs Bhadravati Ahmed at the premises known as Jamies News & Convenience Store (Lyon Park Avenue, Wembley HA0 4HG), pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 be granted with additional conditions as requested by the Police.
The full record of the Sub-Committee’s decision and the reasons are as set out in the decision letter, set out below.
The application
The Sub-Committee has given careful consideration to an application by the Police, under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, to review the premises licence relating to Jamies News & Convenience Store Lyon Park Avenue Wembley HA0 4HG. Mr Aizaz Ahmed and Mrs Bhadravati Ahmed are the premises licence holders. Mr Navin Prajapati is the designated premises supervisor (DPS). The premises is currently licensed for the sale of alcohol from 08:00hrs to 23:00hrs Monday to Saturday and from 10:00hrs to 22:30hrs Sunday.
In summary, the Police raised concerns about the prevention of public nuisance. The Police visited the premises on 23 October 2015. Four Asian men were seen standing directly outside the premises drinking cans of beer and they had white plastic cups on the window ledge. There were several empty beer cans on the floor next to where the men were standing as well as several empty miniature bottles. One of the men appeared to be drunk. Inside the shop Police officers saw a tube of white plastic cups behind the counter similar to the ones that the men were drinking from outside. Officers asked Mr Prajapati why he had a half tube of white plastic cups behind the counter, to which he admitted to selling the cups to street drinkers for ten pence each. In response to questioning from the Police Mr Prajapati stated that the men drinking outside were regulars who brought alcohol from his shop and stood outside drinking.
During the course of their visit Police officers observed large volumes of people coming into the shop most bought single cans of beer some of whom the Police would describe as street drinkers. None of them were challenged. There were also several people who appeared to be young and who should have been asked for identification under the ‘Challenge 25 policy’. No one was asked to verify their age. The Police informed the Sub Committee that Mr Prajapati seemed more interested in serving one customer after another as quickly as possible to avoid a queue and possibly losing money by people not wanting to wait to be served, rather than running the shop in accordance with the licensing objectives. The Police also noted that Mr Prajapati spoke very limited English.
The Police confirmed that the premises licence allows for the alcohol to be consumed off the premises but should not be sold in open containers. The Police requested that Mr Navin Prajapati be removed as the DPS and that a number of conditions be added to the premises licence.
The full details of the application made by the Police, amongst other information, is contained within the document pack attached to the Agenda for our meeting. This information is publicly available and is therefore not repeated in detail in our decision notice.
The hearing
Mr Aziz attended the hearing and was represented by his agent Mr Noel Samaroo.
PC Michael Sullivan represented the Police.
The decision
We have listened to all the representations and have read all the material.
We have had regard to the statutory guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003, and the Council’s own licensing policy. We took into account paragraph 11.21 of the guidance which states that if it emerges that poor management is a direct reflection of poor company practice or policy, the mere removal of the designated premises supervisor may be an inadequate response to the problems presented. Where subsequent review hearings are generated by representations, it should be rare merely to remove a succession of designated premises supervisors as this would be a clear indication of deeper problems that impact upon the licensing objectives.
We have taken into account our duty under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to have due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of our discretion on, and the need to do all we reasonably can, to prevent crime and disorder in our area and the misuse of alcohol.
We confirm that in making our decision we have sought to promote the licensing objectives.
We also confirm that we have imposed further regulation only if satisfied that it was necessary, proportionate and appropriate to do so and justified on the facts of this particular case.
On the facts of this application, it is particularly noteworthy that, according to statutory guidance, we should accept all reasonable and proportionate representations made by the Police unless we have evidence that to do so would not be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives. However, it remains incumbent on the Police to ensure that their representations can withstand the scrutiny to which they would be subject at a hearing.
The Police referred the Sub Committee to several crime reports in the document pack taken from Police intel systems relating to drunken behaviour around the location of the shop over the last few months, highlighting a street drinking culture in this residential area which also has a Primary School nearby.
A Statement from the dedicated ward officer PC Manjit Aulak at pages 31-32 of the document pack, referred to males mainly Asians loitering outside of the premises from 09:00hrs to late at night involved in alcohol related disorder, debris such as cans broken glass plastic cups and food containers littering the road and footpath and fresh urination being smelt and seen on a regular basis in the immediate vicinity of the shop. This had resulted in him arresting these males for numerous offences including drink related anti social behaviour and issuing PND tickets for public order offences and threatening behaviour. Despite the area being a controlled drinking zone PC Aujlak had received regular complaints of persistent noise, crime and disorder from residents.
Mr Samaroo told the Sub Committee that a number of the concerns raised by the Police emanating from the premises were not disputed in particular cups being sold and people drinking alcohol outside of the premises. However, this shop has been there since 1965 and to blame Jamies News for being solely responsible for the problems in the area was totally unfair. There were 4 Off-Licences within 50 metres of each other in the area. Mr Samaroo stated that some of the debris and street drinking described by the Police could have been caused by alcohol being purchased from one of the 2 other Off-Licenses closest to the premises in Heather Park Drive.
Mr Samaroo went on to say that some of the conditions the Police had requested have already been implemented, that the shop has been cleaned up a great deal especially at the front where a fence has now been put up to prevent people from congregating there and miniature bottles of alcohol are no longer being sold. Furthermore, Mr Prajapati has now stood down as the DPS.
In relation to single cans of beer being sold, Mr Samaroo stressed that the business will be crushed if they are no longer allowed to sell single cans of beer and that small business such as this are already struggling in the market place. He said that Mr Aziz would ideally like to sell 3 specialist beers which were not the cheap high strength beers consumed by street drinkers. Mr Samaroo suggested that in order to give further assurances to the Police, Mr Aziz would be happy for all the cans/beers/bottles to be labelled with the name and address of the premises and that this practice has already been implemented by other local authorities. This will assist the Police and Brent Licensing Officers to identify/pin point the shops causing the problems in the future.
We noted that the main concerns that had led to the Police bringing this review application are being addressed. We also acknowledge that the street drinking problems in the area are not solely related to this premises. We did however find that Mr Parajapati has failed to manage the business in accordance with the licensing objectives and have decide to remove him as the DPS . We also agree that the additional conditions requested by the Police be added to the premises licence along with conditions imposed by the Sub Committee as follows:
1. CCTV shall be installed to Home Office Guidance standards and maintained in a good working condition and recordings shall be kept for 31 days and shall be made available to Police and authorised officers from Brent Council.
2. A CCTV camera shall be installed to cover the entrance of the premises
3. A sign stating “No proof of age – No sale” shall be displayed at the point of sale.
4. A “Challenge 25” policy shall be adopted and adhered to
5. A refusal book detailing date and time of the refused sale and the name of the person refusing the sale shall be kept and maintained and made available for inspection
6. No high strength beers, lagers and ciders above 6.0% ABV shall be stocked with the exception of :
Foreign Guiness (Also know as Nigerian Guiness) 7.5%ABV and Dragon Stout 7.5%ABV
7. An incident log shall be kept at the premises and made available for inspection on request to an authorised officer of Brent Council or the Police which will record the following:
(a) All crimes reported to the venue
(b) All ejections of patrons
(c) Any complaints received
(d) Any incidents of disorder
(e) All seizures of drugs or offensive weapons
(f) Any faults in the CCTV system
(g) Amy refusal of the sale of alcohol
(h) Any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service
8. A copy of the premises licence summary including the hours which licensable activities are permitted shall be visible from the outside of each entrance to the premises
9. A personal licence holder fluent in English shall be present on the premises and supervise the sale of alcohol throughout the permitted hours for the sale of alcohol
10. All alcohol stocked and sold (shall have the shop label? Exact Wording Yogini to confirm after checking with Ealing)
11. Miniature bottles of spirits shall not be sold
12. A clear and unobstructed view into the premises shall be maintained at all times
13. Licensing training shall be provided and all such training shall be logged.
Informative
In the event that there is any evidence of street drinkers congregating in the alleyway adjacent to the premises, this should be reported to the Police.
The effective date of this decision
This decision does not take effect until the end of the period for appealing this decision or, if appropriate, the outcome of the appeal.
Right of Appeal
The parties have a right of appeal to Brent Magistrates’ Court against this decision.
If you wish to appeal you must notify Brent Magistrates’ Court within a period of 21 days starting with the day on which the Council notified you of this decision.
Dated 2 February 2016
Supporting documents:
- REVIEW REPORT - Jaimes News, 200a Lyon Park Avenue HA0 4HG, item 3. PDF 42 KB
- Jamies Review Application, item 3. PDF 709 KB
- Jamies Witness Statement, item 3. PDF 129 KB
- Jamies Licence, item 3. PDF 302 KB
- 0 LIST OF CONTENTS, item 3. PDF 35 KB
- 1 Prop0se operating schedule, item 3. PDF 73 KB
- 2 Noel statement Jamie's News, item 3. PDF 156 KB
- 3 WITNESS STATEMENT aziz, item 3. PDF 97 KB
- 4 WITNESS STATEMENT navin Prajabati, item 3. PDF 77 KB
- 5 Manjit Aulak PC 743QK statement, item 3. PDF 125 KB
- Scan_20160125, item 3. PDF 4 MB
- 7 correspondence between Mr samaroo & Pc Sullivan, item 3. PDF 14 MB
- 8 Applicaction for a review licence, item 3. PDF 707 KB
- 9 Consent of an individual being specified as a DPS, item 3. PDF 4 MB
- 10 Mrs Nehal personal licence, item 3. PDF 79 KB
- 11 Conditions Proposed by Premises Licence holder, item 3. PDF 35 KB
- 12a, item 3. PDF 5 MB
- 12b, item 3. PDF 4 MB
- 12c, item 3. PDF 4 MB
- 12d, item 3. PDF 5 MB
- 12e, item 3. PDF 3 MB
- 12f, item 3. PDF 5 MB
- 12g, item 3. PDF 4 MB
- Jamies OS Map, item 3. PDF 913 KB