LICENSING APPEALS REJECTED

Two shops in Westgate and Ramsgate have been ordered to stop selling alcohol, after losing their appeals against selling counterfeit drink and failing to pay duty.

Both cases were heard at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (10 May), and resulted from Operation Synergy. A three day operation held in October 2010, it involved the police, HM Revenue and Customs, Kent Fire and Rescue and the council’s Licensing Officers, who visited a number of convenience stores across Thanet. Large quantities of alcohol were seized from a number of stores as either being counterfeit or excise duty not paid.

As a result, 11 premises licences were reviewed by the police, in conjunction with the council. These cases were all determined at a series of Licensing Sub-Committees over three days in December 2010. The two appeals heard at the Magistrates’ Court were both against the Sub-Committee’s decision to revoke their licences to sell alcohol.

In the first case, during the Operation Synergy visit, Almost News, of Station Road, Westgate was found to have wine and spirits, for which receipts could not be produced to prove that duty had been paid. This followed a previous visit, six months earlier in April 2010, when a quantity of counterfeit vodka was seized from the premises. A written warning was issued.

Addington Superstores, in Addington Street, Ramsgate was the second appeal to be heard. When it was visited as part of Operation Synergy, 134 bottles of wine and 24 bottles of spirits were seized, some of which had forged duty stamps on them. Satisfactory receipts could not be produced for any of this alcohol. Previously, in a visit by the police and HM Revenue and Customs in December 2009, 6,852 litres of beer was seized, along with 590 litres of wine and 88 litres of spirits. Duty had not been paid on any of this alcohol and a lorry had to be arranged to remove it.

In both cases, the appeal was dismissed and the decision to revoke the shop’s licence to sell alcohol has been upheld. The council was also awarded £300 in costs in each case.

Licensing and Land Charges Manager, Philip Bensted, said: “We all know that cheap alcohol causes many problems, such as drunkenness, crime, public order problems and assaults. By buying in either counterfeit products or failing to pay duty on alcohol, shops can sell alcohol much more cheaply. We’re not talking a few pence here. For a litre bottle of spirits, with an alcohol strength of 37.5% by volume, the duty that would be paid on this was £9.41 at last year’s rates. These cases serve as a stark warning of what can happen to traders, when they fail to buy their alcohol stocks from reputable and trusted suppliers.”