Hereford store loses licence after stolen goods accusations
A Hereford grocery shop has lost its licence to sell alcohol after it was accused of selling stolen goods and prescription medicines without a licence.
IRI Ltd, trading as Europe, of Eign Gate, is currently licensed to sell alcohol until 8pm and until 4pm on Sundays.
West Mercia Police said it had seen “known shoplifters” entering the shop in April 2022 with electrical items later seen on sale, which were identified as stolen.
One arrest was made, and some medicines, apparently being sold without a licence, were also seized.
Designated premises supervisor Ina Turuliene, a Lithuanian national, was later interviewed under caution.
Police then applied in July for the shop’s alcohol licence to be withdrawn due to its alleged handling and selling of stolen goods.
The move was supported by Herefordshire Council’s principal trading standards officer, who said it was “clear” the shop was failing to ensure public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder.
Ms Turuliene’s appearance before the council’s licensing sub-committee this week was put back from September due to the ongoing police investigation and her possible court appearance, due later this month.
PC Chris Lea told the committee that police “have numerous concerns with this premises”.
While delivering a court summons to Ms Turuliene in July, police encountered one of the previously identified shoplifters “entering the store with a bag containing stolen bottles of alcohol”, he said.
Ms Turuliene said she had been on holiday during the initial police visit, adding: “I have still not been told what they took.”
She also claimed the “small amount” of medicines involved were of types readily available over the counter elsewhere, that the electrical goods were not on sale, and that this would be clear from the police recording.
But the committee was unconvinced, and chair Coun Paul Andrews concluded: “Given the seriousness of the matter, the only appropriate measure is to revoke the licence.”
The police had earlier successfully applied for a three-month suspension of the shop’s licence in 2020, after trading standards officers found over 220 packets of illegal cigarettes behind the counter.