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

The Chair had agreed to the inclusion of this application as an item of urgent business.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding a Summary Review of the premises licence at Irish World Heritage Centre, 1 Irish Town Way, Manchester, M8 0AE.

The summary review was requested by GMP following an incident at the premises which took place on Sunday 13March 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.

GMP addressed the Hearing Panel and gave details of the reasons for their review application, informing them that they received multiple calls on Sunday 13 March 2022 which stated that a large fight had broken out at the premises. One call referenced a group from the travelling community as being those fighting. Another call said that guns and knives had been mentioned. For this reason, GMP dispatched firearms control to the premises. GMP were informed that the group who had caused the fight had been on the premises for most of that day. During the incident, staff told GMP that they had hid in the kitchen. GMP informed the Hearing Panel that an elderly lady had been punched in the face. They requested that the Hearing Panel suspend the licence pending a full review due to concerns that further violence could occur. GMP then showed the Hearing Panel CCTV footage from the night in question. On the footage, chairs could be seen being thrown, a male had blood down their face and the elderly lady can be seen being hit.

The Premises Licence Holder’s (PLH) agent then addressed the Hearing Panel, stating that all involved with the Irish World Heritage Centre had accepted the incident was disgraceful. The agent stated that the PLH had taken the decision to close the site due to their concerns of further violence. It was known to the PLH that the group involved had been in Manchester for a family funeral. The PLH planned to be closed until after this funeral. The agent stated this showed that the PLH was showing responsibility and that they had learnt lessons. The agent informed the Hearing Panel that the PLH had always worked with GMP in the past. The PLH wanted to ensure that an incident such as this could not happen again and their agent informed the Hearing Panel of the steps they had taken, including mandatory training for staff and more door supervisors. The agent stated that the premises is a family friendly environment and the PLH wanted it to remain this way. The agent felt it to not be proportionate to suspend the licence due to the steps taken by the PLH.

GMP asked the PLH about a call they had received on St Patrick’s Day asking for them to eject people. The PLH stated this happened and thanked GMP for their response. The PLH informed the Hearing Panel that this was another group from the travelling community who had refused to leave the site. Staff and door supervisors had asked the group to leave but when the continued to refuse, GMP was called. Due to this, the bar closed at 22.00 that night.

The Hearing Panel sought to establish further information on when the site had been open since, whether the original incident had been properly assessed and regarding the group from the travelling community. The PLH informed the Hearing Panel that they had been closed on Monday 14 March and then open from Tuesday 15 March until the second incident on Thursday 17 March. The premises had been closed since that night. The PLH stated they had received no advice to close but had learnt about the funeral from the group on Thursday 17 March and realised the problems this could have caused. The PLH believed the funeral was to be held on Wednesday 23 March and had passed the details on to GMP.

In summing up, the PLH’s agent stated that the PLH took the responsible decision to close. The PLH was aware of the issues and had passed information to GMP, remaining willing to continue to work with them.

GMP summed up by stating that them receiving two calls in a week from the premises shows that they have been struggling to manage large groups and/or events.

In their deliberations, the Hearing Panel accepted that GMP evidence showed the premises as being associated with serious disorder. The Hearing Panel were satisfied that the evidence provided showed the premises to be undermining the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective. The Hearing Panel were concerned that if the premises remained operating, further incidents could have occurred.

Decision

To suspend the premises licence with immediate effect, pending full review to be heard on 08 April 2022, amended from the original date of 12^th April 2022.