The Council’s Licensing Officer
presented a report in respect of a review of a personal license
following a conviction for a drink drive offence at North Essex
Magistrates Court on 2 January 2020, which is listed as a relevant
offence under Schedule 4 of the Licensing Act 2003. She also stated
that the PLH had failed to notify the Court at the point of their
conviction that they were a personal licence holder and that they
had also failed to notify the Council of their conviction, as well
as their change of home address.
In response to a question, the Licensing
Officer stated that a letter notifying the PLH of the hearing was
sent to both the original home address that the Council held for
the PLH, as well as to the new address provided to them by Essex
Police. It was also explained that the PLH had been requested to
attend the meeting of the Sub-Committee via an Outlook Microsoft
Teams invite sent to their email address, which included a PDF of
the agenda and report pack.
In response to a further question, the
Licensing Officer stated that the Licensing Sub Committee hearing
of the case had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and an
increased workload for the Licensing Team.
The Sub-Committee then heard from the Police,
who were present at the meeting and outlined their reasoning for
requesting the revocation of the personal licence. The
Sub-Committee noted that there were no representations from the
PLH.
Both the Licensing Officer and the Police
Representative summed up their respective positions and the
Sub-Committee then retired to consider its decision.
Decision:
The Sub-Committee noted that the PLH had been
convicted of a relevant offence under Schedule 4 of the Licensing
Act 2003, that they had failed to notify the Court at the point of
their conviction that they were a PLH and that they had failed to
notify the Council of their conviction, as well as their change of
address.
Whilst the Sub-Committee was entitled to
depart from the licensing guidance, in the absence of an attendance
by the PLH or any submissions from them in mitigation, there was
nothing before it to persuade it to depart. Accordingly, the
Sub-Committee agreed that the personal licence be
revoked.
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