Resolved -

(1)  That Councillor S Niblock be appointed Chair for this meeting.

(2)  That Councillor S Niblock consider the application regarding Liberty with Councillors J Salter and M Hornby.

(3)  That Councillor S Niblock consider the application regarding The Black Horse with Councillors J Salter and A Sykes.

Members of the Committee are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

Members of the Committee were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

No such declarations were made.

The Acting Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Premises Licence in respect of Liberty, 3-3A Grange Road, West Kirby, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence allowing the licensable activities as set out within the report.

A copy of the Premises Licence setting out the hours and conditions attached to the licence was available.

The Acting Director advised that the Sub-Committee may, having regard to the application for review and any relevant representations, take such of the following steps as it considered necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

• Modify the Conditions of the Licence.
• Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the Licence.
• Remove the Designated Premises Supervisor.
• Suspend the Licence for a period not exceeding three months.
• Revoke the Licence.

The Licensing Authority may decide that no action would be necessary if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been submitted by Merseyside Police and the Licensing Sergeant advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety due to unlicensed activities taking place at the premises which had resulted in a serious assault.

Sergeant P Jenkins and Constable P Coley, Merseyside Police, attended the meeting.

Mr C Saverimutto, Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder was also in attendance.

The Licensing Manager reported that all documentation had been sent and received.

Sergeant Jenkins reported that Mr Saverimutto had received and accepted a caution for unlicensed activities and had therefore, in his opinion, admitted that unlicensed activities had taken place at the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins referred to the statements included within his submissions of the people involved in the incident on 27 May 2012 and provided the details regarding the incident when a male was injured due to unlicensed activities having taken place at the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins referred to further breaches of the Premises Licence and believed that Mr Saverimutto had demonstrated a lack of knowledge of his responsibilities as Designated Premises Supervisor.  Sergeant Jenkins therefore requested that the conditions of the Premises Licence be modified and provided some suggested conditions that he wished to be placed upon the Premises Licence.

Sergeant Jenkins responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr Saverimutto and Mr D K Abraham, Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee.

Mr Saverimutto believed that the Premises Licence had been brought to review due to an unfortunate set of circumstances.  He referred to the incident that had occurred outside the premises on 27 May 2012 and stated that he had accepted the caution as the perpetrators of the assault had been drinking in the premises beyond the hours permitted on the Premises Licence.  He believed that some unfounded allegations had been made regarding underage persons drinking at the premises and noise from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Acting Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Premises Licence in respect of The Black Horse Hotel, School Hill, Heswall, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence allowing the licensable activities as set out within the report.

A copy of the Premises Licence setting out the hours and conditions attached to the licence was available.

The Acting Director advised that the Sub-Committee may, having regard to the application for review and any relevant representations, take such of the following steps as it considered appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

• Modify the Conditions of the Licence.
• Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the Licence.
• Remove the Designated Premises Supervisor.
• Suspend the Licence for a period not exceeding three months.
• Revoke the Licence.

The Licensing Authority may decide that no action would be necessary if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been submitted by Merseyside Police and the Licensing Sergeant advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety due to the current Designated Premises Supervisor, having assaulted a Police Officer at the premises.  The Licensing Sergeant also advised that the Designated Premises Supervisor had previously been arrested on two other occasions for assault at these premises.

Sergeant P Jenkins and Constable P Coley, Merseyside Police, attended the meeting.

Mr T Strictly, Business Manager, Punch Taverns plc was also in attendance together with Mr Coen, Solicitor representing Punch Taverns plc as the Premises Licence Holder.

The Designated Premises Supervisor was present together with his Solicitor, Mr Boag.

The Licensing Manager reported that all documentation had been sent and received and explained that the party to the hearing was the Premises Licence Holder but that the Designated Premises Supervisor and his representative were other persons at the hearing and in this capacity provided Members with the opportunity to ask questions of them.

Sergeant Jenkins reported upon an offence that had occurred on 25 November 2011 when the Designated Premises Supervisor had assaulted a Police Constable whilst he was executing his duty.  As a result of this, Sergeant Jenkins believed there was clear evidence that the Designated Premises Supervisor had compromised the licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder and public safety and therefore considered that the problem was the Designated Premises Supervisor himself rather than the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins also stated that the Designated Premises Supervisor had been arrested for violence on two other occasions and therefore requested Members to remove him as Designated Premises Supervisor and that Punch Taverns Ltd give an undertaking that he would not be employed in any capacity in which he would have contact with clientele.

Sergeant Jenkins responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr D K  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.