Crown Mead shopkeeper could lose licence due to criminal record

Thames Valley Police have applied for a premises licence review of Crown Mead Stores and the licence holder Harjit Sandhu.
Mr Sandhu was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years after being convicted at Reading Crown Court last year of handling stolen goods and perverting the course of justice.
A review can be initiated when a matter arises in connection with one of the four licensing objectives; in this case, the prevention of crime and disorder.
A letter to Mr Sandhu from police licensing officer Steve Deane, made available as an agenda item on Thatcham Town Council's website, said that Mr Sandhu was therefore “not a fit and proper person” to retain the licence for Crown Mead Stores nor indeed to remain the designated premises supervisor.
In the application to review Mr Sandhu’s licence, Mr Deane said that the situation had been exacerbated by Mr Sandhu’s apparent unwillingness to engage with the police to address their concerns.
The application states that officers were told Mr Sandhu was unavailable when they called and hand delivered a letter to the premises.
They add that Mrs Sandhu had spoken to officers, stating that they were waiting for the result of a check on someone else taking on the licence.
Under the Licensing Act the licence holder must notify the licensing authority of any convictions, something officers say had not been received when they applied for the review.
Officers therefore believe they have been more than patient in attempting to address the situation but calls, a personal visit and a letter had all failed to resolve the situation.
Mr Deane said that officers formed the view based on Mr Sandhu’s “flagrant and persistent disregard for the Prevention of Crime & Disorder licensing objective”, and “with such an unwillingness to engage and with such dishonest conduct evident, we have been left with no other option than to apply for a review of the licence”.
Thatcham Town Council was asked to comment on the review and speaking at a meeting on Monday Owen Jeffery (Lib Dem, Thatcham South and Crookham) said that while he had no personal knowledge about the case, the fact that Mr Sandhu had been convicted meant that action should be taken.
“I think this council should be supporting the police in doing something that definitely needs to be done,” he said.
Members of West Berkshire Council’s licensing committee will decide on Mr Sandhu’s licence when the review goes before them on March 11.
A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, Connie Primmer, said that it was not up to the police what would happen in terms of revoking the licence as it would be determined by West Berkshire Council.
Miss Primmer said that as officers are waiting for the licence review to take place no comment could be made at this time. She added that the review was the first that police had applied for in West Berkshire for some time. However, the police are not the only authority that can apply for them.
Speaking to the

on Tuesday, Mr Sandhu said that he had made a mistake and now had to live with the consequences.
He said that he would probably have his licence for the store removed, owing to him having a criminal record; something he would have to live with for the rest of his life.
Mr Sandhu said that he had very little involvement with Crown Mead Stores and was now working hard as the manager at Southern Fried Chicken in Crown Mead, adding that he had found another person to take on the shop’s licence.
He said: “I’d just like to say that I’m really sorry for what I’ve done, obviously. I’ve learnt my lesson.
“I’ve completed my community service within a very small time period and I’m spending most of my time in Southern Fried Chicken, which is where I work now, and I’m going to be keeping out of trouble surely and definitely for the near future.
“I’m an educated individual, I’m a graduate, I’ve made a mistake.
“Everybody has the right to make one mistake and I have and I’ve definitely learnt from it.
“I won’t be getting in trouble ever again.”