Decision

 Premises:                                         
White Horse, Sandhurst Lane, Sandhurst,                                       
                                   
Gloucester, GL2 9NG                        
 

Applicant:                                         
Home Office Immigration Enforcement Licensing Compliance Team
 
Application for a review of a premises licence
under prevention of crime and disorder objective.
 
Present:                                              
Panel Members: Councillors G M Porter (Chair),                      
      
                                               
R J G Smith and H Sundarajoo
 
                                                           
Reserve Member also in attendance: Councillor M J                       
                                   
Williams
 
Representatives of
applicant:            
Representative from the Home Office Immigration Enforcement
Licensing Compliance Team 
 
Representatives of the respondent:   Premises Licence Holder
                                                           
Colleague of the Premises Licence Holder
 
Responsible Authorities:                    
None
 
Other Persons addressing the          
None
Sub-Committee:                                
 
 
SUMMARY OF
REPRESENTATIONS
 

1.           
Aside from the applicant, no Responsible Authorities
had made representations in relation to the application.

2.           
No representations were received from other
persons.
 
PREMISES LICENCE
 
The premises is licensed for the following
activities and hours:
 

Sale by Retail of Alcohol

Monday to Saturday

10:00 – 00:00

Sunday

12:00 – 23:30

Christmas Day

12:00 – 22:30

Good Friday

12:00 – 23:30

New Year’s Eve

10:00 – 00:00 (on 2 Jan)

Late Night Refreshment

Monday to Saturday

23:00 – 00:00

Sunday

23:00 – 23:30

Good Friday

23:00 – 23:30

New Year’s Eve

23:00 – 05:00 (on 1 Jan)

 
DECISION
 
Having considered the application; the
evidence provided; the representations made by all parties,
including those made at the hearing; the provisions of the
Licensing Act 2003 which conferred the powers of the licensing
authority to deal with the application; the obligation to promote
the four licencing objectives; the relevant sections of the
Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy; and the Statutory
Guidance, it was resolved that the premises licence be
REVOKED.
 
 
REASON
 
The Licensing Sub-Committee considered that it
must carry out its functions with a view to promoting the four
licensing objectives, as set out in Section 4(2) of the Licensing
Act 2003.  The premises licence holder
had undermined the licensing objectives, in
particular that of the prevention of crime and disorder, and there
was no reason to believe he was mistaken in employing the illegal
workers.
 
 
CONSIDERATION
 
The licensing authority had conducted a review
at the behest of the Home Office on the grounds that the premises
had been used for criminal purposes by having three illegal workers
in the premises in August 2024.
 
The premises licence holder had exercised his
right of appeal to the Home Office and this was
dismissed.  The premises licence holder
then appealed this decision to the County Court whereby a Consent
Order was agreed between the parties and an agreed amount of
£82,000 was to be paid back to the Home Office in
instalments, thereby the premises licence holder accepted he was at
fault.
 
Multiple illegal workers, on
more than one occasion, was a very serious activity and the
premises licence holder had not learned from the previous time in
2019.
 
As per the Section 182 guidance
there was certain criminal activity that should be treated
particularly seriously; this included employing a person who was
disqualified from that work by reason of their immigration status
in the UK.  The guidance went on to say
that when a licensing authority deemed that the crime and
prevention licensing objective had been undermined, as was the case
here, it was expected that revocation of the licence - even in the
first instance - should be seriously considered.
 
There was nothing the premises
licence holder offered to the Sub-Committee to make Members believe
that this would not happen again, given there was an incident in
2019 and three illegal workers found in 2024, and he put forward no
suggestion of any procedures or policies he had implemented to stop
this happening in the future
 
 
APPEAL
 
All parties were reminded of their rights of
appeal against the Licensing Authority’s decision pursuant to
Section 181 of and Schedule 5 to the Licensing Act 2003. An appeal
must be made to the Magistrates’ Court and commenced within
21 days of notification of the authority’s
decision.