Agenda and draft minutes

Licensing Sub-Committee - Monday, 4th March, 2019 10.00 am

Venue: Committee Room 6 - Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW. View directions

Contact: Anisha Teji  01895 277655

Items
No. Item

52.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

53.

Declarations of interest in matters coming before this meeting

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

54.

To confirm that the items of business marked Part I will be considered in Public and items marked Part II will be considered in Private

Minutes:

It was confirmed that the items of business marked Part I would be considered in public.

55.

Matters that have been notified in advance or urgent

Minutes:

None.

56.

Application for a Review of a Premises Licence : The Wine Cellar Company pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

           

 

Introduction by Principal Licensing Officer

 

Lois King, Principal Licensing Officer at the London Borough of Hillingdon introduced the report and photographs relating to a review of the premises licence for The Wine Cellar Company, 36 Station Road, West Drayton, UB7 7DD. Ms King provided a background and chronology of events.

 

The application was made by the Metropolitan Police Service and related to the failure to uphold the Protection of Children From Harm objective of the Licensing Act 2003. Two test purchases in relation to alcohol were carried out at the premises as part of the Police operation, 'Nebula'. On both occasions alcohol was sold onto minors. The Premises Licence Holder, Mr Sandeep Singh Nangpal, failed to put measures in place from the incident on 30 July 2018, as alcohol was served again to a minor on 22 October 2018 being a further breach of the licensing objectives within 3 months.

 

On 6 December 2018 Ms King and PC Mitchell visited the business, and noted Mr Nangpal has made some improvements. Mr Nangpal paid the fixed penalty notice issued. However, Ms King submitted that greater steps were necessary to uphold the licensing objectives.

 

Ms King made a recommendation that the Premises Licence should be suspended for a period not exceeding three months, with additional conditions, having regard to paragraph 11.19 of the government issued under s 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

 

Representation by Applicant for the review

 

PC Emly Mitchell and PC Damian Goddard-Lane on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service addressed the Committee. PC Mitchell explained that as part of Operation Nebula, over 236 premises were test purchased by Police Cadets. 36 of those premises initially failed and were issued with fixed penalty notices. They were then revisited and the only premises that failed again was the Wine Cellar Company.

 

It was submitted that under s182 guidance, should a venue serve alcohol to a minor within a three month period, a review of the premises is required and the Licensing Authority should consider revocation. The dates of the visits were 30 July 2018 and 22 October 2018 and Mr Nangpal was in charge of the premises on both occasions.

 

On 30 July 2018, the Police Cadets entered the store and selected four cans of lager valued at £4.30. The alcohol was run through the till and placed in a black bag. The children were not challenged and no identification was requested. The Police Cadets left the store and handed the alcohol to the Police Officer. The person who sold the alcohol, Mr Pagnat Nangpal was issued a fixed penalty notice which has now been paid.

 

On 22 October 2018, Police Cadets entered the premises and selected a bottle of wine valued at £6.99. Trading Standards were also present on this occasion. The staff member did not challenge the children, ran the transaction though the till and put the item in a black bag.

 

On 6 December 2018, a compliance check was undertaken along with Licensing Officers from the Council.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.