Shop caught selling beers and vape to teenagers loses licence despite plea to keep it open

Family Shop in Birchwood Road, Penn, first came to the attention of Trading Standards in December 2022 when a number of complaints were made alleging that age-restricted products were being sold to minors.

Council licensing bosses this week heard that the two authorised volunteers were sold a Crystal Pro Max Fresh Mint 4000+ puffs vape, a can of 4.5 per cent ABV REDDS Zurawina fruit beer and a can of four per cent ABV REDDS Marakuja fruit beer on July 3 without being challenged.

Representing shop owner and premises licence holder Harim Ali Abdullah, Geoff Dixon from Manchester Licence Training told members: “The mitigating circumstances are that Mr Abdullah was only away from the shop for a period of around 15 minutes. It was his daughter’s prom date and he was giving her a lift, so he asked the gentleman in the shop to look after it for 15 minutes when really he should have closed the shop. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

He said that Mr Abdullah was very sorry for his actions and had previously held two other licences for shops in Northampton and West Bromwich without incident.

Councillor Celia Hibbert also spoke on behalf of the shop due to its location within her ward.

She said: “I am a very well-known promoter of small businesses in Penn and Mr Abdullah is very responsible and very polite. It’s a very small business and if he were to lose his licence it would have have a catastrophic effect on not only him but also our ward, as we are very proud of our small businesses.”

Trading Standards district officer Dianne Slack told the committee that the type of vape sold to the two underage volunteers was illegal in the UK, and added that there was no tobacco notice on display and no refusals book available to inspect when officers visited. Also, the cigarette gantry was open leaving tobacco products on display.

Concerns about whether the four licensing objectives set out in the Licensing Act 2003 were being upheld had earlier been raised by both Public Health and West Midlands Police. After hearing all the evidence and submissions from each representative, the licensing sub-committee made the decision to revoke the licence.

Council solicitor Ronald Sempebwa said: “The sub-committee was very concerned about the circumstances outlined by Trading Standards – specifically in relation to the licensing objective of the protection of children from harm. There have been a number of breaches identified, all of which contravene the premises licence and break the law. The decision is to revoke the licence with immediate effect.”