The report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding a Summary Review of the premises licence at Mesob, 97 Princess Road, Manchester, M14 4TH.

The summary review was requested by GMP following an incident at the premises which took place on Sunday 3 July 2022. The application was made under section 53(B) of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Hearing Panel considered the written papers, oral representations of all parties as well as the relevant legislation.

At the opening of the proceedings, the Sub-Committee Hearing Panel’s Legal adviser dealt with a request to adjourn the hearing, by request of the Premises Licence Holder’s (PLH’s) solicitor  who could not make the hearing at short notice. The Legal adviser read out the emails sent by the PLH’s solicitor. The PLH also confirmed that he would like an adjournment to afford his representative the opportunity to attend. The Legal advisor explained the nature of Interim Measures hearings 48 hour timeframe to have the hearing dealt with from the time of the City Council receiving GMPs representations to the PLH. GMP explained that there have been many other previous occasions where an Interim Measures hearing is arranged for the following day and asked that the request for an adjourned be rejected. The Legal adviser informed the PLH of their right to submit an appeal, should any of the 4 steps outlined in the report be taken by the Hearing Panel.

The Hearing Panel broke for a short adjournment and considered this request.

The decision was to reject the solicitor and PLH’s request for an adjournment due:

• to the short time frame in which they must hear these cases, Section 53 B (2) which states “The consideration may take place without the holder of the premises licence having been given an opportunity to make representations to the relevant licensing authority” (noting that the PLH will be given the chance to make their own representations)
• the PLH’s right to appeal any decision made by the Hearing Panel at the close of the hearing
• considering the serious disorder that had broken out at the premises and the need to consider steps as soon as possible.

GMP addressed the Hearing Panel and stated that they had CCTV footage to show but requested that the public were removed from the hearing for this as there were ongoing criminal investigations that may be prejudiced if shown in public, referring to regulation 14 of the Hearing Regulations. .

The Hearing Panel accepted the evidence given by GMP that if the footage was shown to the public, it was likely to prejudice the investigation.

The respondent did not object to CCTV footage being shown in private to the Hearing Panel. Also, no other attendees objected to the footage being shown in private.

The Hearing Panel went into a private session to view the CCTV footage and then the public were re-admitted to the hearing.

GMP addressed the Hearing Panel and gave details of the reasons for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.