Agenda item

Consideration of interim steps following an application for summary review of the premises licence. 

Discussion:

The Chairman asked those present to introduce themselves and explained the process that the hearing would follow as outlined in the agenda.

The Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer said that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application for an expedited review from Kent Police in relation to the premises licence for the Prince of Wales, 90 Cecil Road, Rochester, as the premises had been associated with serious crime and disorder. She explained that the Licensing Act 2003 required expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours, pending a full review hearing within 28 days of the date that the application was served.

She stated that the purpose of the hearing was for the Panel to determine what interim steps to take, pending the full review hearing, and explained that the options were:

(a)      the modification of the conditions of the premises licence;

(b)      the exclusion of the sale of alcohol by retail from the scope of the licence;

(c)      the removal of the designated premises supervisor from the licence;

(d)      the suspension of the licence.

PC Hunt explained that there was an ongoing police investigation following a serious incident at the premises in the early hours of Saturday 10 March 2018 for which there was an ongoing investigation. A victim had suffered a deep cut to his face which had resulted in the loss of a lot of blood and required 40 stitches. This amounted to grievance bodily harm, wounding with intent, and the offender had not yet been identified. 

PC Hunt advised that Officers attending the scene had established that the CCTV at the premises was not working as it had been switched off five days earlier, despite CCTV being a condition of the premises licence.   In addition, the crime scene had been cleaned by staff at the premises and Officers had witnessed alcohol being served to customers beyond the licensable hours, at 01.20 hours. On Fridays and Saturdays the premises were licenced to sell alcohol until 00:00 hours and the closing time was 00:30 hours.

The Police were concerned that if the premises remained open prior to a full review hearing, it could be a flash point for further incidents or reprisals. The Police were therefore seeking suspension of the premises license for 28 days to allow for a full review of the licence.

Mr Martin, the Premises Licence Holder, questioned the Police representatives who re-iterated that, due to the nature of the incident, they considered that there would be a risk to safety if the premises remained open prior to the full review hearing. 

In response to questions from members of the Panel, the Police confirmed that they had been monitoring the premises due to concerns of under age drinking, the serving of alcohol after permitted hours, and the absence of a Designated Premises Supervisor. During visits to the premises, drug swabs had been taken and these had showed high readings. As a result a warning letter had been sent to the Premises Licence Holder.

Mr Martin stated his belief that his pub was being managed correctly and stated that he had ‘called time’ at 00:30 hours on the night in question.  He said that the victim had been helping him in the pub and that he could not have prevented the incident. He accepted that some people took drugs on the premises. He said that he had been involved in the running pubs for 40 years and accepted that, on occasion, alcohol was served after hours.

There being no questions from the representatives of the Police, members of the Panel asked why the CCTV had not been working.  Mr Martin said that he had been waiting for a new part and a new working system had now been installed at the premises. He said that he had never witnessed drug taking at the premises and that there was no CCTV in the toilets. He disputed the Police representative’s comment that he had been serving alcohol after permitted hours and said that the pub had closed at 00:30 hours. He confirmed that the offender had visited his pub over the previous three weeks but had not caused any problems.

The Chairman asked both parties if they wished to sum up.  The Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer read out a statement on behalf of Mr Martin relating to an incident in the 1980s.

The Police representatives referred to the photographic evidence which showed the level of injury inflicted on the victim and how close it was to his eye.  It was the opinion of the Police that, had the Premises Licence Holder been compliant with the premises licence, people would not have been present at the premises at 01:20 hours and the assault would not have occurred.  Mr Martin had admitted that he did not ‘call time’ until 00:30 hours, 30 minutes after the permitted time. The Police therefore had concerns regarding Mr Martin’s ability to manage the basic conditions of the premises licence. It was not considered that the removal of Mr Martin as the Designated Premises Supervisor would be sufficient on this occasion as it was likely that he would remain at the centre of the pub’s management. The Police were therefore requesting the suspension of the premises licence for 28 days pending the full review of the premises licence.  

Decision:

1.     In considering the application for an expedited review of the premises licence for the Prince of Wales, 90 Cecil Road, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2HS, the Licensing Hearing Panel had regard to the Licensing Act 2003, the statutory guidance issued under S182 of the Act, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and all matters before it, both written and oral.

2.     In light of the seriousness of the incident that had occurred at the premises on 10 March 2018, the risk of further incidents and the concerns expressed by the representatives of Kent Police regarding the management of the premises, the Panel suspended the premises licence for a period of up to 28 days, pending a full review hearing.