Minutes

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Member Code of Conduct.

The Sub-Committee noted the agreed procedure for the conduct of business.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Cllrs P Keska as Chairman, B Rolfe and M Sartin. The Chairman welcomed the participants and requested that they introduce themselves to the Sub-Committee. In attendance on behalf of the Premises were: Mr M Cleary, owner of the Nu Bar and Designated Premises Supervisor; Mr P Warne, Solicitor for Greene King Retailing Limited; and Mr M O’Connor, from Greene King Retailing Limited. Also in attendance was Mr J Smith, a Licensee at another establishment nearby and a witness on the night of the incident who had been in the Premises at the time. In attendance on behalf of Essex Police were: Mr P Jones, Licensing Officer for Essex Police; Inspector T Mitchell; and Ms J Nash, County Licensing Officer for Essex Police. The Chairman then introduced the Members and Officers present, and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the Review.

(a)        The Review before the Sub-Committee

The Chairman reminded the Sub-Committee that the Licence for the Nu Bar in Loughton had been suspended by the Council at a meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee on 12 April 2016, following a request by Essex Police for an expedited review after a serious incident at the Premises at approximately 2.10am on the morning of Sunday 10 April 2016. The Premises had exercised their right for a review of the suspension within 48 hours of the initial decision, which was the purpose of this meeting. The Sub-Committee would determine whether the suspension should continue or be revoked until the full Premises Licence Review, scheduled for 3 May 2016.

(b)        Submission by the Premises

Mr Warne stated that it was for Essex Police  to prove that the Premises were sufficiently negligent to impose a restriction of livelihood under the Human Rights Act. Mr Warne expressed very serious concerns about the process. Essex Police should have presented the facts in a fair way at the first Review on Tuesday (12 April 2016), but Mr Warne felt that this was not unique as it had happened at other Councils.

Mr Warne felt that there were five fundamental errors in the evidence presented by Essex Police, which were critical to the determination of the Review.

Firstly, the documentation had stated that there had been 17 crimes recorded from in or in close proximity to the Premises, yet the summary list only listed 15 crimes. For the serious offences listed, there was no date and time listed for each incident. For some of the incidents listed, Mr Warne contended that:

·                 Attempted Murder – the assailants were never in the venue, they got out of a car outside the Premises and attacked the victim directly outside the Nu Bar; Essex Police never contacted Mr Cleary about the incident afterwards (42/101584/15).

·                 GBH – the drums were knocked over by customers, which resulted in a scuffle. The Door Staff put the Drummer out of the back of the Premises, and the Customers out of the front door. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

The Sub-Committee noted that there was no business for consideration which necessitated the exclusion of the public and press.