Sheffield off-licence loses licence over illegal workers and tobacco and sales to under-age children
When the premises were searched, illegal cigarettes were found with no UK duty paid on them, plus two pouches of illegal rolling tobacco and illegal vapes.
A Sheffield off-licence has had its licence revoked because it has been caught employing illegal workers, selling illicit tobacco products and serving under-age children with tobacco and alcohol.
The decision to revoke the alcohol licence for Golden Off-Licence on Abbeydale Road, Sheffield was taken at a hearing yesterday (January 28) of Sheffield City Council’s licensing sub-committee. Evidence was given by immigration, police and council licensing and children’s safeguarding officers.
Hendrin Azar, the premises licence holder and designated premises supervisor, did not appear at the hearing at Sheffield Town Hall.
The application was made by Home Office immigration enforcement officers. An officer who gave evidence said that there must be significant intelligence of people working illegally because of their migration status before they visit premises.
Home Office checks on two workers found on the premises on June 29, 2023 showed that one man was in breach of his immigration status that does not permit him to work. At first he denied working at the store but later admitted he received £40 a week.
The officer added: “That first visit should have served as a warning for the premises holder and we would have hoped that lesson had been learned by the licence holder.”
However, more intelligence was received and one male worker was found on the premises on August 2, 2024. The man gave a false name and date of birth and was arrested on suspicion of breaching bail by working illegally on the premises.
The man told officers that he received £5 per hour for working in the shop and he had the fob for the shutters.
When the premises were searched, illegal cigarettes were found with no UK duty paid on them, plus two pouches of illegal rolling tobacco and illegal vapes.
Mr Azar was fined £45,000. The officer told the committee that he could not confirm if the penalty had been paid or not.
The officer asked the committee to consider revoking the premises licence.
He said: “There are serious concerns over the way that this business is being run. There needs to be some significant remedy and a way of assuring that it cannot be repeated.
“This should also send a clear message to other businesses who are fully compliant with relevant legislation that satisfactory action has been taken.”
South Yorkshire Police licensing enforcement officer Catherine Jarvis said that Sheffield Children’s Safeguarding Partnership had raised concerns that under-age, vulnerable children had been able to buy alcohol, tobacco and vapes from the shop.
Julie Hague from the safeguarding partnership said that they were alerted that a 15-year-old boy had been able to buy alcohol and vapes without being challenged.
Ms Jarvis said that on their first visit to discuss the issue two men were in the shop, who spoke broken English and didn’t understand who they were asking to see, so she pointed at Mr Azar’s name on the licence on display. She said that one then said he was Mr Azar, adding: “Essentially he was trying to hide his identity from us.”
She added: “He totally denied that they would ever sell to any under-age person.” Ms Jarvis said that, because they did not have a specific date or time to be able to check the CCTV, they asked what due diligence was done at the premises.
She said that the visit showed that the shop was breaking 16 conditions on its alcohol licence.
Extensive efforts were made to assist Mr Azar to comply with the licence conditions, said Ms Jarvis, including outlining how each condition broken could be remedied and supplying copies of all the documentation he needed.
Ms Hague said that free training was offered to Mr Azar and shop staff that could be completed online at any time of day to understand what action needed to be taken to ensure that no under-age sales take place. She said nobody had enrolled on the training.
On a subsequent visit, Ms Jarvis said “we were met with quite an aggressive Mr Azar and a female member of staff we’d not met before. They felt that we didn’t have a right to be there.
“He felt that we were picking on him and that he hadn’t sold to anyone under-age.” She explained that the reason for return visits was that the shop was not complying with its licence and an action plan was put in place but this still did not resolve the issues.
“It is my belief that Mr Azar is unable or not willing to comply with the requirements of the licence and with the authorities,” said Ms Jarvis.
“We’ve tried to work with him, we’ve given him every possible support. I don’t know how many more times we can talk to him about what he needs to do and provide him with all the things he needs to assure us, short of doing it for him.
“With all the other concerns around immigration and illicit tobacco, it’s a concern that this person is allowed to continue having his licence to sell alcohol. We request that you revoke the licence for this premises.”
David Butterworth from trading standards explained that they made a test purchase of cigarettes on December 13 and were able to buy a pack of Marlboro Gold for £7, when the cost should have been £12-£14.
Five days later, a search of the premises discovered black bin liners with 480 illegal packs of cigarettes, two pouches of rolling tobacco and 40 illegal vapes. The tanks on the vapes exceeded the legal limit allowed.
Mr Butterworth said that, as well as contravening government health measures to make smoking prohibitively expensive, stores that break the law also undercut legally-run businesses. Trading standards also asked for the licence to be revoked.
In announcing their decision, licensing sub-committee chair Coun Abdul Khayum said: “Between us we have expressed serious concerns about everything else that is going on there, particularly the employment of illegal workers.
“We hope that further actions could be taken along those lines on that issue.”