Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor A Lucas be appointed as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider an application to review the premises licence in respect of Sam Mini Market, 681 Foleshill Road, Coventry

Note: The applicant and their representative have been invited to attend the

  hearing.

  Persons who have made representations have been invited to attend.

The City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy is available on the Council’s website. Alternatively, please contact us if you require a hard copy.

Further to the hearing adjourned on 8 May 2017, the Sub-Committee reconvened to consider an application for a review of the premises licence at Sam Mini Market, 681 Foleshill Road, Coventry. The review application sought to either revoke the premises licence, suspend the premises licence for a period of three months and/or terminate the role of Ms Corina Florina Ondrea as Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS).

The grounds for the review were that the Licensing Objective of Prevention of Crime and Disorder had not been promoted and a condition of the licence had been breached. This followed a visit to the premises, during which illegal tobacco products were discovered and seized.

The Sub-Committee heard that the premises applied for a licence to sell alcohol off the premises on 23 August 2016. The licence was granted on 23 September 2016 with the following condition attached to it:-

‘All alcohol and tobacco products must be purchased from legitimate traceable sources that provide receipts to confirm purchased items. Goods sold should not evade any duty or taxes and should be authentic goods, which comply with UK legislation. All receipts and records will be made available to officers at Coventry City Council for inspection when requested by that officer.’

The Sub-Committee heard that this condition was added to the licence with the agreement of the Licensee due to the intervention that she has been subject to during the preceding 14 months.

The Review Applicant explained that on a number of previous occasions prior to the grant of the licence, the Licensee had been subject to intervention from Trading Standards due to illicit cigarettes found both on the shop premises and in the flat above the shop.

Following the grant of a premises licence with the condition as suggested by Trading Standards attached, a visit was made to the premises on 9 December 2017. During this visit, a search dog was taken to the premises by Trading Standards and 6 packets of foreign labelled cigarettes were found hidden in sweet containers at the till area. A further 10 packets were found in a locked cupboard under the counter and 20 packets were in a concealment area of a sewage drain.

The Review Applicant advised the Sub-Committee that since this date, two anonymous complaints had been received alleging that the premises was continuing to sell foreign labelled and counterfeit tobacco. One such complaint was received as recently as 9 June 2017. The Sub-Committee confirmed that with no evidence to substantiate the anonymous complaints, they would not be lending weight to them.

The Review Applicant reiterated in response to a question from the Sub-committee that the cigarettes were not on open display but had been well hidden. For example, the cigarettes concealed in a sweet jar were concealed amongst actual sweets rather than an empty jar.

The Sub-Committee then heard representations from the Licensee through the Licensee’s Representative, who stated that the Licensee accepted the findings placed before the Sub-Committee. However, the Licensee disputes having anything to do  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider any other items of business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no items of urgent private business.