Quentin Hunt in Trading Standards Premises Appeal Licence success

Quentin Hunt acted for Mr ZM in respect of a premises licence revocation relating to ZM’s operation of a store selling tobacco products.

ZM’s licence was revoked by Sheffield City Council following proceedings before the Sheffield City Council Licensing Sub-Committee in which the trading standards department of the Council applied for a review of the premises licence under s51 of the Licencing Act 2003. At the hearing a decision was made to revoke ZM’s licence.

ZM then contacted Barrister Quentin Hunt to appeal the case to the Magistrates Court. Upon instruction Quentin submitted an appeal notice to the Court and began collecting evidence to support ZM’s case.

The thrust of the City Council’s case revolved around test purchases where they could show that ZM’s shop had been selling counterfeit tobacco products. Quentin was able to collect a large body of evidence to show that the sales had been by a rogue employee without the knowledge of the licence holder. The employee had since been sacked and robust systems had been put in place for the prevention of such an occurrence happening in the future.

Quentin entered lengthy negotiations with the Local Authority before the case to Court for final hearing. Following representations made by Quentin the Council reviewed their decision and settled the case on the basis that ZM could keep his licence with minor conditions attached to ensure that no counterfeit products were sold in the future. In addition, ZM did not have to pay any of the Council’s costs.

As the licence was ZM’s livelihood he was delighted with the result.

Quentin Hunt is a Barrister with over 22 years experience in regulatory and Trading Standards matters. He accepts instructions through solicitors or directly from members of the public. If you have a case involving licencing or trading standards matters, you may wish to avail yourself of the best possible representation. You may contact Quentin for a free, no obligation conversation about your case.