Special Licensing Sub Committee

Special Licensing Sub Committee 19 May 2011

SPECIAL LICENSING SUB COMMITTEE

A meeting of Special Licensing Sub Committee was held on 19 May 2011.

PRESENT: Councillor Taylor, Morby and J Walker.

OFFICERS: B Carr, T Hodgkinson and S Vickers.

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Marie Nevison – Cleveland Police Legal Representative

Sgt P Higgins – Cleveland Police

PC J Bryan – Cleveland Police

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR

ORDERED that Councillor Taylor be appointed as Chair of the Special Licensing Sub Committee.

** DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members at this point of the meeting.

LICENSING ACT 2003: REVIEW/TRANSFER OF PREMISES LICENCE - TEESSIDE PIZZA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS STAR TAKEAWAY) – 126 BOROUGH ROAD, MIDDLESBROUGH - REF. NO. MBRO/PR0450

A report of the Head of Community Protection had been circulated outlining an application to Transfer and Review the Premises Licence in relation to Teesside Pizza (formerly known as Star Takeaway), 126 Borough Road, Middlesbrough, Ref No. MBRO/PR0450, as follows:-

Summary of Current Licensable Activities

Late Night Refreshment.

Summary of Current Hours of Licensable Activities

11.00pm - 4.00am Monday to Sunday.

A copy of the current Premises Licence was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

The Principal Licensing Officer advised that neither the current Premises Licence Holder nor the proposed Premises Licence Holder were present at the meeting. The Council’s Principal Legal Representative advised Members that they should ascertain that both the above had been notified of the hearing before making a decision whether to proceed with the application in their absence.

The Principal Licensing Officer advised that notice of the hearing had been sent to the premises, the current Premises Licence Holder and the proposed Premises Licence Holder by first class post on 5 May 2011. The Principal Licensing Officer had received a call from Karim Mohammed on 4 May 2011, giving details of his new address in London. He was advised of the date and time of the Review Hearing, but stated that he may not attend the hearing due to the fact that he was now living in London.

As it was evident that all parties had been informed about the hearing, Members decided to proceed with the determination of the application in their absence.

The Council’s Principal Legal Representative advised Members that there were two separate applications to consider; an application to Transfer the Premises Licence and an application to Review the Premises Licence. Members decided to consider the application to Transfer the Premises Licence first.

Details of the Application

The Principal Licensing Officer presented the report in relation to an application to Transfer the Premises Licence received on 21 April 2011.

On 30 March 2011 the Licensing section had received a letter from Karim Mohammed, the Premises Licence Holder, advising that he had sold the business to Ismail Ayubi on 8 May 2009 and as a consequence he had not been responsible for the premises, since that date. A copy of the letter was attached at Appendix 3 to the report.

On 21 April 2011, an application to transfer the Premises Licence from Karim Mohammed to Ismail Ayubi was received. Cleveland Police made representations against the transfer of the licence on the grounds of crime and disorder A copy of the representations was attached at Appendix 5 to the report.

Cleveland Police had highlighted concerns regarding a history of incidents of non compliance with licensing conditions, in particular in relation to the operation of the CCTV system and the retention of footage and the display of signage to prevent noise nuisance to local residents following routine licensing inspections carried out in November 2008 and January 2009. Copies of letters sent to Karim Mohammed on 2 December 2008 and 13 January 2009 with regard to the non compliance of licensing conditions were attached at Appendix 6 and 7 of the report. The matters were rectified on 16 January 2009.

On 14 November 2009, following a routine licensing inspection by the Police and Licensing officers, further incidents of non compliance with licensing conditions were identified. A letter was sent to Karim Mohammed on 16 November 2009 and the matters were rectified on 20 March 2010.

Relevant Representations

Cleveland Police

The Police Legal Representative referred to the evidence contained in their application to review the licence attached at Appendix 2 of the report, in particular the instances of non compliance with licensing conditions as detailed above.

Members were advised that Karim Mohammed had been the Premises Licence Holder since 11 January 2008. In January 2010, an application to transfer the premises licence to Ramin Rahmati had been received. Representations had been made by the Police on the grounds that Mr Rahmati was awaiting trial at Teesside Crown Court after being charged with rape. The application to transfer the premises licence was refused by the Licensing Sub Committee A on 1 March 2010 on the grounds that a serious allegation had been made against Mr Rahmati. Mr Rahmati was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for the above offence. Prior to his sentence, Mr Rahmati had indicated to Environmental Health officers that he was the owner of the premises.

Concerns had also been raised by Middlesbrough Council Environmental Protection in October 2008 and September 2009 regarding poor hygiene, waste dumping and the control of pests. The person who had identified himself as the owner of the premises, Ismail Ayubi had been cautioned for failing to control hygiene and pests. . The Police Legal Representative advised that Mr Ayoubi had previously worked at another pizza shop as an illegal immigrant.

On 14 June 2010, another routine inspection was carried out by Environmental Health Officers and a voluntary closure of the Premises was agreed due to poor hygiene including mouse activity with the person who had identified himself as the owner of the Premises, Ramon Rahmati.

The premises reopened on 29 July 2010 as Teesside Pizza and Ajmal Wazir identified himself as the owner of the premises.

On 12 November 2010, following information received regarding the fact that illegal immigrants were working at the premises, a joint operation was carried out with Cleveland Police and the UK Border Agency police. During the visit it became apparent that two illegal immigrants were working at the premises. As a consequence, one of the illegal workers was arrested and removed from the United Kingdom and the other illegal worker was issued with a notification of potential liability. Further breaches of the licensing conditions were also identified during the above inspection. The premises licence holder, Karim Mohammed was not present during the inspection.

The Police Legal Representative indicated that they were concerned that as a consequence of having illegal immigrants working at the premises it would be unlikely that any incidents at the premises would be reported to the police or the licensing authority which would undermine the crime and disorder and public safety objectives.

A visit to the premises was carried out on in the early hours of the previous Sunday and a male who appeared to be in charge of the premises gave his name as Omah Ayoubi. When Police checked the name, the male had given false details and his name was verified as Abdul Hashemi. Another male by the name of Manzoor Tarakhel was also working at the premises along with a third male by the name of Rudasingwa Savar. The Police passed details on to the UK Border Police for information.

The Police also identified further breaches of licensing conditions in relation to the operation of the CCTV system and the retention of footage and the display of signage to prevent noise nuisance to local residents.

In summing up the Police Legal Representative indicated that their main concern with regard to the Transfer of the Premises Licence was the employment of illegal immigrants at the premises. It was also of concern to the Police that on four occasions different names had been given to the various authorities with regard to the ownership of the premises. Staff at the premises had been very evasive with regard to providing information in relation to who actually owned the premises.

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and all interested parties other than the Officers of Legal Services and the Members Office, withdrew whilst the Committee determined the application.

Subsequently all the parties returned and the Council’s Legal Representative announced the Committee’s decision.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered the application and representations from the Police.

The Committee also considered Government Guidance, the Council's policy and licensing objectives.

DECISION

ORDERED that the application to Transfer the Premises Licence in relation to Teesside Pizza (formerly known as Star Takeaway), 126 Borough Road, Middlesbrough, Ref No: MBRO/PR0450 be refused for the following reasons:-

1. The Committee had considered the evidence before them and determined that the applicant had been responsible for the management of the premises since September 2009 and during that time he had displayed a total disregard for licensing and other legislation

2. The Committee considered that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to operate the premises.

The Chair advised that the Premises Licence holder and the applicant would receive the decision in writing, reminding him of his right to appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days of the date of the decision.

Members proceeded to consider the application to Review the Premises Licence.

The Principal Licensing Officer presented the report in relation to an application from Cleveland Police, received on 17 March 2011, to Review the Premises Licence in relation to Teesside Pizza (formerly known as Star Takeaway), 126 Borough Road, as outlined above, on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety. A copy of the representation was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. Copies of the application for Review had been served on the responsible authorities on 17 March 2011.

Relevant Representations

Cleveland Police

The Police Representative advised that the evidence presented in support of the objection to the Transfer of the Licence was also applicable to the request to Review the Licence.

Members referred to the lack of enforcement in respect of the requirement for Premises that held a Late Night Refreshment Licence to ensure staff acquired food hygiene qualifications.

Subsequently all the parties returned and the Council’s Legal Representative announced the Committee’s decision.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered the application and representations from the Police.

The Committee also considered Government Guidance, the Council's policy and licensing objectives.

DECISION

ORDERED that the Premises Licence in relation to Teesside Pizza (formerly known as Star Takeaway), 126 Borough Road, Middlesbrough, Ref No: MBRO/PR0450 be revoked for the following reason:-

1. The Committee had considered the evidence before them and determined that the Premises Licence Holder had displayed a continued and repeated total disregard for all of the licensing objectives.

The Chair advised that the Premises Licence holder would receive the decision in writing, reminding him of his right to appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days of the date of the decision.