Huddersfield karaoke bar with illegal workers and underground ‘massage rooms’ gets licence ripped up
It comes after three illegal workers were found at the business last year
A Huddersfield karaoke bar where illegal workers were found, along with underground ‘massage rooms’, has lost its premises licence.
Kirklees Council’s Licensing Panel met to carry out a licence review in respect of Hao Lai Karaoke Bar at 33-35 Kirkgate. This review was taking place at the request of West Yorkshire Police (WYP) who were concerned that the licensing objectives of public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder were being put in jeopardy. After much consideration, the panel decided to revoke the licence altogether.
Hao Lai was one of the premises visited by WYP, Licensing Officers at Kirklees Council and Immigration Officers from the Home Office in April, as part of a joint investigation into the employment of illegal workers in the centre of Huddersfield. Here, three illegal workers were discovered. Two women were detained, and one man arrested and subsequently placed on immigration bail due to an outstanding asylum application.
Police also discovered three massage rooms – two in the basement and one on the ground floor, with officers having “reasonable grounds” to suspect that “sexual services” may have been offered to clients.
In an earlier visit carried out in summer 2024, the force received intelligence that illicit sexual activities were taking place in the rooms below the bar, with a bed found in one room, along with empty condom wrappers and baby wipes. At the time, officers informed the premises licence holder – Mrs Ming Li – who was working behind the bar, that such activities must cease immediately and upon their return in September 2024, there was “no evidence” of sexual activity present.
Several other breaches of the licensing objectives were noted by Kirklees Council’s Licensing Officers in the most recent investigation, among them: a lack of CCTV recordings; failure to maintain refusal logs; no incident log being available for inspection; and no evidence of training logs.
At today’s meeting, a statement was read on behalf of licence holder, Mrs Li, by Robert McLaren. Mr McLaren and Mrs Li refuted the “allegation” that people were working in the premises illegally and said that the workers found during the operation were family members who had been left in a state of “shock” and “bewilderment” after being “aggressively” interviewed by the Home Office.
The meeting heard that Mrs Li had opened the club last June after spending a lot of money on a complete refurbishment. The premises was said to offer karaoke to the multinational student community and basic, non-sexual, massage services. Mrs Li’s statement acknowledged that there “may have been illicit practices” initially, which were “quickly stopped” once identified. It also said that the premises was no longer offering alcoholic drinks.
Summing up the police’s position, Licensing Officer for WYP, Richard Woodhead, said: “I would just like to remind the panel, illegal persons were found on the premises, the Home Office guidelines are that such actions are deemed as very serious. The owner of the business admits in her letter that illicit and illegal practices may have been taking place in the basement before the ‘no sexual services’ sign was put in place.
“The owner of the business no longer wishes to sell alcohol but the licence will remain in place albeit without a Designated Premises Supervisor.
“So, the decision that you reach today will send a very strong message out, not only to the businesses of Kirklees but businesses across West Yorkshire and beyond. The national press have already picked up on this review proceedings and if you decide to revoke the licence it will send a very strong, positive message out that illegal activities will not be tolerated in licenced premises.”
Upon announcing the panel’s decision to revoke the licence, Chair of the meeting, Cllr Eric Firth (Labour, Dewsbury East), said: “The reasons for the panel’s decision is that the licensing conditions regarding the CCTV were not working, nor were there any competent person who was able to operate the CCTV system on site and make any footage available to responsible authorities. There was also no evidence of a refusal book.
“And on the balance of probabilities, we find that there were illegal workers at the time of the visit on April 25. We find that the licensing objectives breached are public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder.”
The licence had previously allowed for the sale of alcohol, performance of dance, live and recorded indoor music, and the indoor provision of entertainment or similar from 5pm until 2am the following morning, Monday to Thursday, and from 5pm until 4am the following morning, Friday to Sunday.