The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, ensured that introductions were made and then briefly outlined the procedure of the meeting.  

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Chief Executive.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the rules of procedure which are attached for information.

The Rules of Procedures were noted.

At the request of the Chair, Mr Mohshin Ali, Senior Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for Advance 1 Stop, 422 Roman Road, London E3 5LU. It was noted that review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police and supported by Trading Standards.

At the request of the Chair, PC Alan Cruickshank, Metropolitan Police referred to his statement on  pages 28-30 and explained that the premises was visited on 24^th February 2011, and on entry to the premises, officers found a total of 66.4 litres of mixed spirits for sale which did not display the required duty stamp. Further examination of the wine on sale revealed that there were 56.25 litres of mixed wines, which were on sale at a price where duty for the goods could not have been paid for. It was noted that these goods were seized and amounted to a total of £732.63 of duty evaded and no receipts had been produced for the goods seized.

PC Cruickshank explained that Trading Standards Officers examined other goods for sale and seized 1800 Marlboro Gold cigarettes which was confirmed as counterfeit. Other counterfeit goods which were seized included 60 title DVD’s, and 9 designer T-shirts. During further examination of the premises, officers found 3330 Euros under the cash counter, these were also seized and confirmed as counterfeit. It was further noted that the Mr Raj Singh who was currently running the premise was arrested and charged in connection this. PC Cruickshank urged Member to revoke the licence.

At the request of the Chair, Mr Raj Singh explained that he had given details of where he had brought the alcohol from and that if they were to come back to the premises again, he would take down their car registration number and would not purchase anything. He apologised for his actions and assured Members that this would not happen again.

Mr John Singh, Designated Premises Supervisor, stated that he owned the premises, however had sold the business lease to Mr Raj Singh and therefore he did not have any involvement with the running of the business and did not purchase stock and that he had explained to the management and staff not to purchase stock from white vans and door to door sales people. 

Mr Raj Singh concluded by stating that he had joined membership with MACE wholesalers and they would be delivering all stock to the premises from now on.

In response to questions it was noted that Mr Raj Singh had taken over the premises since last year, and had found the counterfeit Euros six months after and had left them under the till as it believed it to have been the previous owners and thought they may come back for them. Mr Raj Singh explained the measures in place to prevent this from happening again. It was also noted that test purchases had been correctly refused since the incidents.

It was confirmed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1

At the request of the Chair, Mr Mohshin Ali, Senior Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises license for Bethnal Green Food Centre, 438 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 0DJ. It was noted that review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police.

At the request of the Chair, PC Alan Cruickshank, Metropolitan Police referred to his statement on page 87 and explained that HMRC had seized spirits and wines on three different occasions from the premises. That the Premise License Holder was unable to provide invoices or receipts for the goods seized. It was noted that the total revenue due on the seized goods was £604.42 and on further investigations Trading Standards had also seized 12 bottles of champagne, some of which were then found to be genuine and some were well known fraudulently produced champagne.

PC Cruickshank concluded by saying that this was the third time goods had been found on the premises and believed that the Premises Licence Holder had no intention in abiding by the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder.

At the request of the Chair, Mr Les Smith, Legal Representative on behalf of Mr Etem Sahin, Premises License Holder explained that the Mr Sahin, had had his licence since 1998 with no problems/criticism. However, his father did get involved in the management of the premise which caused these incidents to occur. Mr Smith explained that the first incident related to old stock left over from the previous owners when the premises purchased in 2007. The second incident was when Mr Shain’s father purchased stock from a white van when this was later found out, Mr Shain told his father and his brothers who worked there not to buy such stock again. It was noted that when the third incident occurred Mr Shain’s father decided to leave country and went back to Turkey.

Mr Smith referred to page 104 of the agenda which listed conditions offered by the Premise License Holder to address concerns of the Police and Trading Standards and to promote the licensing objectives. Mr Smith then referred to a publication on a national newspaper which highlighted the issue regarding the fake champagne. He concluded that Mr Shain’s father was no longer involved in the business and offered conditions to help remedy the concerns of this ever happening again.

Members asked questions about why the Police/Trading Standards not reviewed the premises when the first incident occurred, and why management had no measures in place after the second incident had occurred. It was noted that there were no receipts for the goods seized and Mr Shain had not been aware when these goods were purchased.      

The Chair advised that the Sub Committee would at 8.00pm adjourn to consider the evidence presented. Members reconvened at 8.35pm. The Chair reported that;

Having heard representations from both the Metropolitan Police and from the Premise License Holder’s representative, Members decided to SUSPEND the licence for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.2

There was no other business.