Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

It was confirmed that all items were marked as Part I, and would therefore be considered in public.

None.

Introduction by the Licensing Officer:

Ms Jhini Mukherjee, Licensing Officer at the London Borough of Hillingdon, introduced the report relating to an applicant for a review of a Premises Licence at Eastcote News, 239 Field End Road, Ruislip, HA4 9NJ.

Ms Mukherjee confirmed that the premises had a history of selling illicit cigarettes, and a number of illicit tobacco products were seized during an operation in December 2015. The Personal Licence holder on this date, Mr Kuldip Singh Bedi, received a written warning and was advised that further non-compliance could result in a Licence Review or Prosecution. At this time, the premises traded as Eastcote Newsbox Ltd, and Mr Kartar Singh Lamba was a Director of the company alongside Mr Bedi.

This company was incorporated in 2011 and dissolved in February 2017. The current Premises Licence was in force since 18 July 2016 and is in the name of Mr Lamba, who is also the DPS of the premises.

The Committee were informed that on 26 April 2018, a multi-agency operation, led by the Council’s Trading Standards team and accompanied by brand representatives from the Alcohol and Tobacco industry, carried out inspections at various off-licensed premises in Hillingdon identified as possibly selling counterfeit goods. One of these inspections took place at Eastcote News, and during this inspection, a total of 440 counterfeit cigarettes were seized.

A further unannounced visit by Ms Mukherjee in June 2018 found no further violations at the premises.

Responding to questioning from the Committee, Ms Mukherjee confirmed that Mr Lamba was not present during her visit, but the premises was compliant with the conditions of their licence and the member of staff present was aware of the licensing objectives.

Representation by Applicant:

Ms Kiran Seyan, Senior Trading Standards Officer, addressed the Committee and stated that Eastcote Newsbox was visited on 26 April 2018 by Trading Standards and brand representatives. Mr Narinder Lamba was present during this targeted visit, and called Mr Kartar Singh Lamba to inform his of the visit. Ms Seyan spoke to Mr Kartar Singh Lamba and asked whether there was any illicit alcohol or tobacco in the shop, to which Mr Kartar Singh Lamba responded that there were no illegal products.

An inspection of the premises discovered that 440 counterfeit standardised packaged cigarettes and two counterfeit SanDisk 16GB memory cards were found. The counterfeit cigarettes were discovered inside the tobacco gantry and were being passed off as genuine goods. Mr Kartar Singh Lamba arrived at the premises and stated that a man had visited the shop and sold him the tobacco from his car, but Mr Lamba was unable to provide any further information or a description of the man.

Members were informed that a previous visit to the premises on 17 December 2015 found a significant amount of illicit tobacco in a till, which was seized, and Mr Kartar Singh Lamba was director of the company at this time. The latest seizure of counterfeit tobacco is proof of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.