An application by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement directorate to revoke the premises licence at Belluno, an Italian restaurant in Newton St Cyres, has failed.
Two Home Office immigration enforcement officers told a Mid Devon District Council licensing committee hearing on Tuesday that an “intelligence-led” raid on 9 December last year had revealed that the restaurant was employing staff whose immigration status disqualified them from employment in the UK.
The Licensing Act 2003 requires that businesses selling alcohol, including restaurants, hold a valid premises licence and that such premises also have a designated supervisor who holds a personal licence.
The premises licence at Belluno was held by Kirton Ventures Ltd, the building’s owners, and the designated supervisor was Haqif Derti, who operated through his own company and had day to day control of all aspects of the business.
The Home Office application to the council requested the revocation of the premises licence, which is the maximum sanction available under the Licensing Act.
It said anything less would be “insufficient to act as a deterrent to the licence holder and other premises licence holders from engaging in criminal activity by employing illegal workers and facilitating disqualified immigrants to work illegally”.
Belluno Italian restaurant in Newton St Cyres
Repetition of this mantra by the immigration enforcement officers at the hearing led to objections from Mr Derti’s solicitor that it was concerned only with the implications for the Belluno licence holders of the circumstances on 9 December, not with general deterrents intended to support government immigration policy.
The solicitor’s view was robustly upheld by the licensing committee chair, Tiverton councillor Lance Kennedy, who also prevented the two officers from attempting to introduce new information relating to a previous position held by Mr Derti.
There was some disagreement between Mr Derti and the immigration enforcement officers about the detailed findings of the raid, including the content of statements made by the workers which Mr Derti suggested may have been signed under a degree of duress.
The licensing committee also heard that another Home Office unit had already issued a penalty of £40,000 against Mr Derti for employing illegal workers which he had not challenged.
Mr Derti’s main argument in mitigation was that he had now outsourced the checking of employee immigration credentials to his company accountants.
The licensing committee members concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, illegal working had taken place for which Mr Derti was responsible.
The committee revoked his authority to act as a designated premises supervisor with immediate effect and imposed a suspension of the restaurant’s premises licence for one weekend during October on a date of the licensees’ choosing.
The restaurant can otherwise remain open but cannot serve alcohol until a new designated premises supervisor is in place. Mr Derti can continue to work there without any licensing responsibility.
The details of the decision will be published on the Mid Devon District Council website. The parties have 21 days to appeal.
