The 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 North Star, 294 Laird Street, Birkenhead, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence which allows the licensable activities as set out in the report.

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

The 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 following a Police Licensing Operation undertaken at the premises that identified illegal activity taking place at the premises.

An anonymous representation had also been received which related to a number of issues including criminal activity taking place within the premises and anti-social behaviour and noise being caused by customers of the premises.

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

Mr G Wilson, the proposed Premises Licence Holder and Mr J Diable, the current Premises Licence Holder were also in attendance together with their legal representative, Mr C Johnson.

The Licensing Officer reported that all documentation had been sent and received and that further documentation had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Sergeant Jenkins outlined the application for review.  He reported upon a visit made to the premises on 23 December 2011 by officers of the Police Wirral Licensing Unit and the Tactical Team where an unregistered gas meter was discovered.  He advised Members of the inherent danger such a gas supply could cause and the fact that this was a criminal offence.  Sergeant Jenkins also referred to a number of incidents that had occurred in or within the vicinity of the premises since February 2010.  Sergeant Jenkins advocated Members of the Sub-Committee to revoke the Premises Licence.

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

Mr Johnson reported that Mr Diable had become Premises Licence Holder at the end of 2011 but has previously not been involved in running the premises.  He reported that the current Designated Premises Supervisor had attained a level 2 award in Drugs Awareness, that the premises had a drugs safe installed, that the CCTV had been updated and that there was no gas supply at the premises.  Mr Johnson requested Members to invoke conditions upon the Premises Licence and not revoke the Licence.

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

Members gave careful consideration to the application made by Merseyside Police to review the Premises Licence at the North Star, 294 Laird Street, Birkenhead and the representations made by Mr Johnson, legal representative as well as those from Mr Diable, the current Premises Licence Holder and former tenant and Mr Wilson, the proposed Premises Licence Holder and current tenant of the premises.

In determining the Review application, Members of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee had regard to the licensing objectives, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and relevant guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003, in particular paragraphs 11.23 - 11.28.

Members of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee accepted the evidence provided by Merseyside Police that the gas supply at the premises had been unlawfully tampered with and that there had not been a recognised supply of gas to the premises since 2006.  Members noted that the state of the gas supply found on the premises as of 23 December 2011 would have been evident to those connected with the premises and yet no action was taken to address the matter.  Members had regard to the fact that Merseyside Police had major concerns in respect of public safety regarding this.

Members also had regard to the report from Merseyside Police that a cannabis farm had been discovered in the flat above the licensed premises following a Police raid.

Members heard representations from Mr Diable, the current Premises Licence Holder, and his admission that he had not taken his role of Premises Licence Holder seriously and had limited knowledge of the existing conditions of the Licence.

Members further noted that Mr Diable has been involved with a number of licensed premises across Wirral.  Members had concerns that Mr Diable merely saw his status as being a name on the Licence and did not recognise the responsibilities of a Premises Licence Holder.

Members considered that the crime prevention and public safety objectives were being undermined through the premises being used to further criminal activity and considered it necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives, in particular the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety to revoke the Premises Licence.

In light of the above, Members considered that placing conditions on the Premises Licence would not be appropriate.

Resolved -

(1)  That in accordance with Regulation 14(2) of the Licensing Act 2003, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the application.

(2)  That the Premises Licence in respect of The North Star, 294 Laird Street, Birkenhead be revoked.