EALING LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE. Monday 3rd October 2011 at 3.30pm (delayed start from 2.30pm)

Transcription

1 EALING LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE Monday 3rd October 2011 at 3.30pm (delayed start from 2.30pm) PRESENT: Councillors Kate Crawford (Chair), Ashok Kapoor and John Popham. Expedited Review of an Existing Premises Licence Under the Licensing Act 2003 (as Amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) The Tudor Rose, 68 The Green, Southall UB2 4BG. The Council s Licensing Sub-Committee had been convened to consider an application from the Metropolitan Police for the expedited review of the existing premises licence for The Tudor Rose, 68 The Green, Southall. The Chair, Councillor Kate Crawford, made the appropriate introductions and outlined the procedure to be followed. Pending the full hearing of the Police s licence review application the Licensing Sub-Committee had previously met to consider what interim steps might be necessary to meet the immediate concerns raised by the Police. At a preliminary hearing held on Thursday, 8th September 2011 the decision had been taken to suspend the premises licence (except for religious activities which customarily took place during the day on Sundays) until such time as a full review hearing could be held. Following the lodging of an appeal against this decision an Interim Steps hearing had been held on Wednesday, 21st September The decision of the Sub-Committee at this second hearing was to confirm the earlier decision to suspend the premises licence. At this subsequent full review hearing on Monday, 3rd October 2011 the Sub- Committee again carefully considered the papers before it and the representations made by the respective parties. On this occasion representations were heard from the following persons: 1. Ms Kate Cornell, Counsel, on behalf of the Metropolitan Police; 2. Detective Inspector Michael Gornall, Sergeant Graham Edwards, Sergeant Fiona Hepworth and PC Christopher Jones on behalf of the Metropolitan Police as responsible authority and applicant for the review of the premises licence; 3. Ms. Ursula James, Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises License Holder for The Tudor Rose; and 4. Mr Jeffrey Israel, Counsel, on behalf of the Premises Licence Holder. Also in attendance at the meeting were PC Simon Doyle, PC Ken Matthews and Ms Pinky Tanna of the Metropolitan Police; Mr Joshua Simons and Mr Nigel Charlton of Accu Price Licensing Services; and Ms Poppy Bradbury of The Ealing Gazette. Ealing Council were represented by Mr Peter Clark, Licensing Compliance Team Manager; Mr Murray Edwards, Regulatory 1

2 Services Officer; Mr Jimmy Umrigar, Lawyer; and Mr Paul Dixon, Democratic Services Officer. The Sub-Committee also had regard to the Licensing Act 2003, the amended guidance of the Home Office dated October 2011, and the Council s Statement of Licensing Policy dated January In particular the Sub- Committee had regard to the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 as amended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 in relation to the expedited/ summary licence review procedure. The Licence Review Application Mr Peter Clark, Licensing Compliance Team Manager, introduced the officers report. The Metropolitan Police had applied for an expedited review of the premises licence for The Tudor Rose, 68 The Green, Southall following a number of alleged incidents of serious crime and/ or disorder at the premises. The grounds for review were stated as the prevention of crime and disorder, the promotion of public safety and the prevention of public nuisance. The Police were seeking a reduction in opening hours and a number of additional or amended licensing conditions to address their current concerns and to promote the licensing objectives. Ms Kate Cornell, Counsel, introduced the application for the expedited review on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. As noted above in order to meet current concerns with regard to crime and disorder the Police were seeking additions or amendments to the conditions attaching to the premises licence. The changes sought included a reduction in the premises opening hours and permitted hours for licensable activities, restrictions on late entry or re-entry to the premises, enhanced search procedures and the installation of improved CCTV camera equipment and surveillance. It was alleged that there had been a long history of criminal offences and incidents of disorder linked to these premises which catered predominantly for a West Indian, Afro-Caribbean client base with both victims and perpetrators drawn mainly from the Afro-Caribbean community. The Police licence review application had specifically highlighted a number of recent instances of serious crime and/ or disorder including 6 incidents of grievous bodily harm, 2 incidents of actual bodily harm and I incident of common assault. In several of these incidents weapons, including glass bottles, had been used. In one such incident the victim had been stabbed inside the premises with a metal skewer highlighting the inadequacy of current search methods. In the majority of cases the incidents had been reported to the Police not by staff at The Tudor Rose but by the Council s CCTV surveillance team, ambulance staff or other members of the public. PC Christopher Jones addressed the hearing to expand on his submitted witness statement. In addition to hearing further specific information about the incidents of crime and/ or disorder referred to in his witness statement the Sub-Committee was also able to view CCTV footage of one of the GBH incidents where a young male was attacked outside the club and slashed across the face with a broken bottle. The number and type of incidents that 2

3 had taken place suggested, inter alia, that there was poor control of customers leaving the premises, poor search techniques, inadequate levels of security staff and poor management by security staff of incidents occurring both inside and outside the club. There was little evidence to suggest that security staff had intervened to pre-empt or defuse situations or incidents as they developed nor had they generally alerted Police to the incidents at the time that they had happened. The situation at the premises had come to a head on Friday, 2nd September 2011 when information was received that The Tudor Rose would be the subject of a firebomb attack during the evening of that day. At the request of the Police the owner and Designated Premises Supervisor, Ms Ursula James, had agreed to close the premises that evening. In the light of this and the other serious incidents of crime and disorder referred to above the Police had decided to invoke the expedited review hearing procedure, requesting suspension of the licence and changes and additions to the existing licensing conditions to promote the licensing objectives. Mr Jeffrey Israel, Counsel, responded on behalf of the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and Premises Licence Holder for The Tudor Rose, Ms Ursula James. Ms James had many years experience as a DPS and had sought to work closely with the Police and licensing officers to address the concerns they had raised. Whilst acknowledging that there had been a number of incidents of crime and assault associated with the premises it was argued that these did not suggest that the premises posed a particularly serious threat to law and order. Rather it was argued that these incidents often appeared to be related to personal feuds or were of a domestic nature and as such were isolated incidents not directly linked to the club s late opening hours. The number and nature of the incidents that had occurred also needed to be seen in the context of the large numbers of people attending the venue over the course of a year. It was further argued that the significant reduction in opening hours sought by the Police would be a disproportionate response to recent problems and would not help to promote the licensing objectives. Further given the nature of the premises and the client group it served the reduced hours sought could threaten its future viability as many customers using the club did not currently arrive until after 2.00am. The earlier closing time proposed would also mean that the premises would be closing at the same time as other clubs and late bars in the area and could therefore lead to increased problems of dispersal in the area. The club continued to cater primarily for the Afro-Caribbean community and as such had important cultural significance within that community. Noting that there had been some problems and shortcomings with the existing CCTV equipment, and in particular that the Police had complained that there had been a failure to provide copies of CCTV footage on request, Ms James explained that she was willing to work with the Police on possible enhancements and improvements to the existing system. Whilst she was also willing to consider a further Police request for the installation of ID scanning 3

4 equipment she nonetheless considered the proposed requirement that photographic ID documents should be produced by all persons attending events at the premises to be disproportionate and unreasonable. Noting the concerns expressed regarding the conduct and proficiency of security staff at the premises, specifically with regard to the customer search techniques used and the reporting of incidents to the Police, Ms James advised that she had recently changed her team of security staff in order to address these concerns. Summing up on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Ms Cornell advised that the Police would be seeking a further additional condition on minimum staffing levels. Reiterating Police concerns about recent incidents at the premises she confirmed that the Police were continuing to seek additions or amendments to the conditions attaching to the premises licence for The Tudor Rose. As noted above these changes included a reduction in the premises opening hours and permitted hours for licensable activities, restrictions on late entry or re-entry to the premises, enhanced search procedures and the installation of improved CCTV camera equipment and surveillance. Such measures were necessary to promote the licensing objectives, specifically with regard to the prevention of crime and disorder and the promotion of public safety. In conclusion Mr Israel summed up on behalf of the Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder, Ms Ursula James. Whilst accepting some of the additional or amended licensing conditions as proposed by the Police it was argued that the substantial reduction in opening hours sought by them was disproportionate and unreasonable and would threaten the economic viability of the premises. The proposed minimum staffing levels sought by the Police were also deemed to be too prescriptive. Conclusion Having heard the evidence submitted the Licensing Sub-Committee Members withdrew to consider their decision in private. The Committee s decision in the form of a number of additional or amended licensing conditions is set out below. Decision Having considered the evidence and respective representations the Sub- Committee s decision was: (i) (ii) To lift the suspension of the premises licence, and In order to meet the licensing objectives relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance and the promotion of public safety, (a) To reduce the hours of operation, and (b) To impose additional licence conditions, and (c) To modify existing licence conditions. 4

5 In reaching its decision the Sub-Committee was satisfied that the proposed changes and additional restrictions were both necessary and proportionate given the recent and recurrent incidents of serious crime and disorder at the premises. The hours for licensable activities and the premises opening hours are to be amended as follows: 1. To permit the sale by retail of alcohol and the provision of live music and other regulated entertainment as follows: Sunday to Thursday: noon to 2.00am the following day Friday and Saturday: noon to 2.30am the following day 2. To permit the provision of late night refreshment as follows: Sunday to Thursday: 11.00pm to 2.00am the following day Friday and Saturday: 11.00pm to 2.30am the following day 3. To permit the following hours for the premises to be open to the public: Sunday to Thursday: noon to 2.30am the following day Friday and Saturday: noon to 3.00am the following day Conditions The following list of additional and amended conditions are to be read in conjunction with the full list of existing licence conditions as set out in Annex 2 to the previous licence and operating schedule. Condition 1: Existing Condition 1 shall be amended to read as follows: Condition 5: The premises CCTV system shall be fully operational and maintained at all times to those standards as specified by the Metropolitan Police. Existing Condition 5 shall be amended to read as follows: Condition 7: Recordings from the CCTV system shall be made available on request by the Licensing Authority or the Police with a designated and suitably trained member of staff present on the premises at all times during operating hours. In addition copies of CCTV footage shall also be made available within 24 hours of a request by the Police or Licensing Authority or within such reasonable extension of time as may be granted by the Police or the Licensing Authority. Existing Condition 7 shall be amended to include the following additional sentence: The search procedures used by door staff shall also include the mandatory use of electric scanning wands for the searching of all customers and patrons attending licensable events at the premises. 5

6 Condition 11: Existing Condition 11 shall be amended to read as follows: Condition 12: No entry or re-entry to the premises after hours. Existing Condition 12 shall be amended by deletion of the words: to use their best endeavour. and shall now read as follows: Management or door staff (where employed) to ensure that no one leaves with any open bottles or glasses. Condition 13: Existing Condition 13 shall be amended by deletion of the words: 'to use their best endeavours. and shall now read as follows 'Management to take ownership of the curtilage and to ensure that it is kept clear of bottles/ glasses/ cans and other debris. Additional Condition The Sub-Committee determined that Ms James required refresher training to make her more fully aware of the full range of responsibilities and obligations incumbent on her in relation to the management of the premises and that the following additional condition was to be added to the existing licensing conditions : The Designated Premises Supervisor is to attend a LACORS licensing training course. Ms James was also encouraged to work closely with the Police on implementing the new and amended licence conditions, and specifically the installation of enhanced CCTV camera equipment and surveillance, in order to meet any ongoing concerns that they may have. The Sub-Committee considered a request from Mr Israel, Counsel for Ms James, that the decision to reinstate the licence, as amended, should have immediate effect and not be subject to a further 21 day period during which the premises would continue to remain closed except for exempted religious activities customarily held during the day on Sundays. The Sub-Committee, having also considered representations on this point from Counsel for the Metropolitan Police, decided not to grant the request. The Sub-Committee was also of the view that this period of time could be used by Ms James to comply with the additional and amended licence 6

7 conditions, and specifically the amended condition relating to the upgrading of current CCTV equipment to meet police specifications and requirements. COUNCILLOR KATE CRAWFORD (CHAIR) The hearing concluded at 8.20pm. 7