Dover shop which sold alcohol to 16 year-old given one year licence despite police opposition

A shop that sold vodka to a child who later required hospital care has been granted a fresh licence — despite strong opposition from police.

Dylan’s Superstore in Dover lost the privilege to sell booze after staff were caught on CCTV selling a litre of spirits to a 16-year-old.

But this week, despite police objecting in the strongest possible terms, Dover District Council (DDC) has handed the store a second chance for a “probation period”.

The crunch decision came after the child bought the alcohol unchallenged last August, consumed it, and then required emergency hospital care.

Police argued the owner, and then licence holder Antony Sinnarasa Brown, was “not suitable” to run the shop at a licensing meeting on Tuesday (June 10).

PC Dannii Rolfe told the committee the premises, also known as High Street Mini Mart, had “a history” with the force, giving rise to its objection.

She stressed how, before the child had been taken unwell, they were allowed to purchase the spirits “without any suitable challenge of age”.

“There is evidence of several licensing breaches at the premises concerned,” she continued.

“The licence holder was not on site, there was no alcohol authorisation to enable staff to serve on behalf of the licence holder.

“There were no training records to view at all and the staff present indicated that no training had been carried out with them.”

When officers descended on the premises, staff were initially unable to operate the CCTV, PC Rolfe explained.

It was only after police threatened to seize the system that staff called Mr Sinnarasa Brown.

And once communication was made, staff were then able to produce the damning CCTV footage via a mobile phone.

The officer noted employees had been leasing the store from Mr Sinnarasa Brown, who, it was claimed, had “little to no involvement” in running the shop, which he had owned since 2016.

After the licence was stripped, Dylan’s Superstore appealed to the courts, but it was withdrawn on March 6 this year.

Yet later that month, PC Rolfe told the chamber, intelligence was received stating Dylan’s was openly selling alcohol again, prompting a police visit.

“The premises was open, fully stocked with foodstuffs, alcohol, spirits behind the counter and beers, wines and ciders on the shelf and in the chiller,” she explained.

“Mr Sinnarasa Brown claims he thought there was a licence, although he knew about the review and the revocation.

“He made no attempt to inquire with any of the local authorities with regards to the status of the licence, just went ahead and reopened unlicenced.”

Arguing the owner was “clearly not suitable” to run a licensed premises, the officer said the new application, launched by the owner’s wife Kilda Muthulingam, appeared to be a move to “circumnavigate the system”.

Furthermore, the committee’s legal advisor stated Trading Standards received “credible reports” of 14-15-year-old girls buying alcohol at the shop, which prompted a visit.

But licensing consultant Naga Rajesh claimed the problems were administrative.

He stated Mr Sinnarasa Brown had “mistakenly” failed to apply to transfer the licence from himself to the leaseholders last year.

His client, he explained, was happy to accept a licence for only a year “like a probation period”, to allow the council to monitor the shop before issuing a permanent one.

Mr Rajesh told the chamber Ms Muthulingam had not been involved with the previous running of the business and, since the licence was revoked, they had both learned a “very expensive lesson”.

“They’re not going to make any mistakes – it’s their livelihood they put so much money into this business,” he added.

DDC’s licensing sub-committee decided to grant the licence but only for one year as a probation period.

After which, the licence holder must reapply again, and is at risk of refusal if they fail to meet their duties.

Meanwhile, Mr Sinnarasa Brown is set to be an employee at the business, but not as a manager, and his wife will be the licence holder.

Committee chairman Cllr Steve Manion told them both: “Good luck, we hope we don’t have you back over that 12 months.”