Agenda item
Application by the Metropolitan Police Licensing Unit, Wembley, for a review of the premises licence for 'JJ Food & Wine' (4 Park Parade, Harlesden, London, NW10 4JH) pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003
Decision:
Having considered the application by the Metropolitan Police Licensing Unit to review the premises licence for ‘JJ Food and Wine’ (4 Park Parade, Harlesden, London, NW10 4JH) (“the premises”) pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 the Sub-Committee resolved that the premises licence continue in force subject to conditions being added to the premises licence:-
(i) that the following hours for the provision of supplying alcohol be:-
Monday to Saturday – 08.00 to 23.00
Sunday – 10.00 to 22.30
(ii) that the following conditions be added to the premises licence in addition to the existing conditions:-
(a) CCTV shall be installed to Home Office Guidance standards and maintained in a good working order condition and recordings shall be kept for 31 days and shall be made available to the police and licensing officers on demand.
(b) CCTV cameras shall be installed to cover the entrance and the rear of the premises.
(c) A sign stating “No proof of age – No sale” shall be displayed at the point of sale.
(d) A “Challenge 21” policy shall be adopted and adhered to at all times.
(e) A refusal book shall be kept and maintained and be readily available upon request.
(f) A time delay safe to be securely installed.
(g) The licensee shall keep an incident book which shall be made readily available to the police and the licensing authority upon request.
(h) A clear and unobstructed view into the premises shall be maintained at all times.
(i) A copy of the premises licence summary including the hours which licensable activities are permitted shall be visible from outside of the entrance to the premises.
(j) A suitable intruder alarm complete with panic button shall be fitted and maintained.
(k) 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.
The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee (A) felt that the conditions added that had been requested by the police in the representation would meet the licensing objectives (prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, the protection of children from harm) and accordingly agreed that the premises licence should remain in force with these conditions added.
Minutes:
Responsible authority making a representation
PC Nicola McDonald (Brent Police)
Premises licence holder and representatives
Jeffrey Israel and Joshua Simmons (premises licence holder’s representative)
Geoff Galilee introduced the matter and informed Members that the police had made a request for a review of the premises licence on the grounds of prevention of public nuisance and prevention of crime and disorder. Members noted that the current licence permitted the premises to sell alcohol from 08.00 to 23.00 Monday to Saturday and 08.00 to 22.30 Sunday.
Responsible authority making a representation
PC Nicola McDonald (Brent Police) began by stating that the premises was located in a controlled drinking zone area that suffered from the activities of habitual street drinkers. A request to review the licence had initially been submitted in September 2010 and Members were referred to statements made by two police community support officers on 18 August 2010 which described an incident involving a street drinker who had had been sold alcohol by the premises whilst intoxicated before subsequently being refunded by staff after they had allegedly sighted the two officers. PC Nicola McDonald then referred to her statement after a follow-up visit to the premises on 27 August 2010 when she witnessed another intoxicated person in the process of being sold alcohol that had only been prevented by her own intervention. It was also discovered that the CCTV was not in operation. Following these incidences there had been a number of discussions between the police and the premises licence holder about attaching additional conditions to the licence and Members noted that these were set out in the report in a letter sent by the police to the premises licence holder’s legal representatives. Although the premises licence holder had agreed to most of the conditions requested, they did not agree with the one requiring that no cheap high strength beers, lagers or ciders above 5.5% ABC were to be stocked. A subsequent incident on 18 February 2011 summarised in a statement from another police community support officer involving an alleged sale of alcohol to an intoxicated person and a known street drinker had led to CCTV footage of the day in question being viewed by police which appeared to confirm that the offence as described had been committed.
PC Nicola McDonald concluded by stressing that she had tried to work with the premises licence holder and given him plenty of opportunities to address the concerns raised, however there had been three separate breaches each witnessed by the police and she added that this may mean that other breaches that had not been witnessed were also taking place. She felt that the condition with regard to cheap alcohol drinks of 5.5% ABV or more was necessary because of the incidents referred to involving street drinkers and if the premises licence holder was not prepared to accept this then the licence should be revoked.
Case for the premises licence holder
Jeffrey Israel (premises licence holder’s representative) began by stating that the police had not included a submission to revoke the licence in their written representation which he argued would be wholly disproportionate to the breaches committed by the premises licence holder. He stated that the designated premises supervisor (DPS) had held the licence since 2006 largely without incident, however he accepted the breaches committed on the premises in August 2010, although the DPS was not present in relation to the incident on 27 August 2010. Since then, the DPS had been in extensive discussions with his legal representatives and the police to take steps to address the issues raised and had accepted all the conditions requested by the police apart from the one relating to cheap alcoholic drinks of 5.5% ABV and above. The premises licence holder had implemented all other conditions and in addition had ensured that all staff had the necessary training. Jeffrey Israel contested that the statement in relation to the CCTV footage of 18 February 2011 at no point suggested that customer concerned was intoxicated at the point of sale. For these reasons, he asserted that the outstanding condition that had not been agreed and the request for revocation were both wholly disproportionate in view of the efforts that had been made by the premises licence holder.
The Chair sought clarification with regard to relevance of the requested condition concerning cheap alcoholic drinks of 5.5% ABV and above and whether there was a justification for it.
In reply, Jeffrey Israel reasserted that the CCTV footage on 18 February 2011 provided no evidence of sale to an intoxicated person and whilst he acknowledged that this condition was included in premises licences elsewhere, the lawfulness of it was yet to be challenged. Geoff Galilee advised that the condition had been included on other premises’ licences where it was felt that street drinking in the area was an issue.
In reply to a query from the council’s Legal Adviser, Joshua Simmons (premise licence holder’s representative) confirmed that a visit to the premises on 7 July 2011 confirmed that the CCTV was fully operational.
Decision
At this point, the responsible authority and the applicant’s representative were asked to leave the room to allow the sub-committee to discuss the relevant issues concerning the application.
Having considered the application by the Metropolitan Police Licensing Unit to review the premises licence for ‘JJ Food and Wine’ (4 Park Parade, Harlesden, London, NW10 4JH) (“the premises”) pursuant to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 the Sub-Committee resolved that the premises licence continue in force subject to conditions being added to the premises licence:-
(i) that the following hours for the provision of supplying alcohol be:-
Monday to Saturday – 08.00 to 23.00
Sunday – 10.00 to 22.30
(ii) that the following conditions be added to the premises licence in addition to the existing conditions:-
(a) CCTV shall be installed to Home Office Guidance standards and maintained in a good working order condition and recordings shall be kept for 31 days and shall be made available to the police and licensing officers on demand.
(b) CCTV cameras shall be installed to cover the entrance and the rear of the premises.
(c) A sign stating “No proof of age – No sale” shall be displayed at the point of sale.
(d) A “Challenge 21” policy shall be adopted and adhered to at all times.
(e) A refusal book shall be kept and maintained and be readily available upon request.
(f) A time delay safe to be securely installed.
(g) The licensee shall keep an incident book which shall be made readily available to the police and the licensing authority upon request.
(h) A clear and unobstructed view into the premises shall be maintained at all times.
(i) A copy of the premises licence summary including the hours which licensable activities are permitted shall be visible from outside of the entrance to the premises.
(j) A suitable intruder alarm complete with panic button shall be fitted and maintained.
(k) 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.
The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee (A) felt that the conditions added that had been requested by the police in the representation would meet the licensing objectives (prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, the protection of children from harm) and accordingly agreed that the premises licence should remain in force with these conditions added.