Loss of licence to act as deterrent to others

A panel of South Holland District Council’s committee of the licensing authority made the decision about Super Sam, of Commercial Road, last Thursday.

A five-hour long hearing saw CCTV footage of staff at the off licence make numerous sales of illicit cigarettes after receiving late night deliveries.

And Sgt Kim Enderby,  from Lincolnshire Police’s alcohol licensing team, is hoping the decision will put off others from treading a similar path.

He said: “They were running a business in an underhand way.

“It was a deliberate criminal act to make profit and undermine crime prevention.

“They were an outlet to sell cigarettes which had probably been smuggled into the country and could have had dangerous ingredients.

“The CCTV footage clearly showed clandestine meetings where large amounts of cash changed hands.

“Very few legal businesses would conduct their business at that time of night.

“We hope this decision will act as a clear deterrent to other stores while also showing those that are trading legally that we’re doing everything we can to stop those that aren’t.”

The hearing was told that premises licence holder Faraidun Abdulla had taken over the running of the store on May 15.

He denied knowing the cigarettes were counterfeit and indicated that he had been trading legally since taking over. However, the CCTV footage showed Abdulla and designated premises supervisor Ahmed Mawlodi regularly carrying holdalls containing packets of cigarettes which were distributed to customers.

PC John Evans told the hearing that, despite CCTV cameras in the shop being regularly moved, footage still showed that cigarettes were regularly sold in the middle of the aisles.

He said: “I only picked out random dates on the CCTV footage, but each occasion showed around 25 transactions each day.

“That’s just a tiny little snapshot of what’s been going on as there were multiple sales every day.

“The modus operandi was to sell cigarettes out of holdalls to customers when they had space to install a proper cabinet.

“The current licence holder has lied at every opportunity. He is a repeated liar who has constantly changed his stance.”

Jamal Khalil, representing Abdulla and Mawlodi, pleaded with the council to give his clients a final chance to prove their integrity.

He said: “Mr Abdulla is a genuine individual. He is an honest man who will do everything he can to prove that.

“He has recently taken over the business and is too far into it to back out. He has a pregnant girlfriend who he needs to provide for and this will hurt him financially.

“He has spent a lot of money to prove his innocence. I would urge you to give him one chance to prove himself.”

However, the three-member panel of Couns Tracey Carter, Angela Harrison and Lesley King felt the business had a “history of failing to comply with conditions upon the licence”.

Coun Carter commented: “The nature of the transactions showed that those involved knew that these were not legitimate sales.

“The panel felt there were no additional conditions that would satisfy the licensing objectives.

“We did not find Mr Abdulla to be credible and had no faith in his ability to run the premises in a proper fashion.”

Abdulla can appeal against the decision to revoke the licence, which is required to allow the sale of alcohol.