Agenda and minutes

Application for the Review of the Premise Licence

APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF PREMISE LICENCE

DECISION OF LICENSING ACT SUB-COMMITTEE

WEDNESDAY 1^st MARCH 2017

The Sub-Committee comprised of Councillor Claire Cozler (Chairman),
Councillor June Ashworth and Councillor Alan Biddulph.

The Legal Adviser was Luke Gorst, Solicitor.

The Democratic Support Officer was Jane Glenton, Democratic Services.

The Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary, as a Responsible Authority, had submitted an application for review of a premises licence under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003. The application related to the Crown Hotel, 239 Marine Road Central, Morecambe.

During the prescribed consultation period no further representations were received.

Richard Williams of Joelson Solicitors represented the Police and was accompanied by PC Andrew Taylor and PC Emma Brown.

The Premises Licence Holder, Dexland Ltd, was represented by Andrea Forrest of Forrest Solicitors who was accompanied by Sean O’Hagan, a director of the Premises Licence Holder.

The Licensing Officer, David Eglin, then introduced the report.

Mr Williams then presented the applicant’s case stating that, following discussions prior to the hearing with the premises licence holder, they had reached a set of agreed conditions that would satisfy the Police’s concerns and would, in their opinion, be appropriate as a means of upholding the licensing objectives.

Ms Forrest then confirmed the premises licence holder’s agreement.

The Sub-Committee then withdrew to make its decision, and sought advice from its legal adviser as to the appropriate phraseology of the decision.

DECISION

The Sub-Committee has carefully considered all the written information before it, and the representations today

The application relates to a review of the premises licence for the Crown Hotel, 239 Marine Road Central, Morecambe.

The Sub-Committee has noted the concerns of the Police stem from an incident that occurred this New Year’s Eve 2016. It is clear to the Sub-Committee that the incident in question was a particularly serious one.

It appears that an entirely innocent member of the public has suffered a serious injury as a result of an incident involving Mr O’Hagan’s son, Kevin.

The Police quite rightly requested the CCTV footage for evidential purposes from the Designated Premises Supervisor, Mr Broster, who is also the manager at the premises. What is not clear is why the DPS chose not to give the Police the footage and was subsequently stopped from leaving the premises with the hard drive. This appears to involve instruction from Kevin O’Hagan.

What is evident is that there has been some obstruction in relation to obtaining this evidence from Mr Broster. This is completely unacceptable behaviour, and is in direct contravention to a condition of the premises licence.

The Sub-Committee further notes that the majority of the bar staff were under the influence of alcohol on that evening. The Sub-Committee find that this falls way below the standard expected for licensed premises in this area.

The Premises Licence Holder has submitted a statement which outlines various measures he proposes to take to ensure that this sort of incident does not occur again. He has stated that he will remove Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.