Report attached

Licensing Act 2003

Notice of Decision

PREMISES

The Drinks Seller

59 Chippenham Road Romford

RM3 8HL

APPLICANT

Miss Hashueen Hakimzada

The Drinks Seller

Details of the application

Two applications have been made to transfer the premises licence and make a variation to the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) at premises.

Summary

On the 4th of March 2026 the Licensing Authority received an objection to the applications from the Metropolitan Police.

Determination of application to transfer the premises licence and make a variation to the Designated Premises Supervisor or a review of premises licence

1.         The Sub – Committee have considered two applications; to transfer the premises licence and to make a variation to the DPS, following objections received from the Metropolitan Police.

2.         The Metropolitan Police’s objections state that they strongly believe both applications represents a transfer by proxy in that the proposed DPS, Ms Hashveen Hakimzada (the applicant), is being put forward in name only while Mr Gurmeet Singh Hakimzada (her father) exercises influence or control behind the scenes. The Metropolitan Police detailed that the applicant’s contact details listed on the application form is Mr Gurmeet Hakimzada’s contact details and evidenced this by way of police report details as found in the agenda pack.

3.         The police stated that Mr Gurmeet Hakimzada had his premises licence revoked in 2018 when quantities of illegal tobacco were seized. This decision was appealed & resulted in a six-week suspension whereby during that suspension the sale of alcohol continued as demonstrated by a test purchase carried out by Ealing Council officers. The licence was then revoked in March 2019.

4.         The Sub – Committee were cognisant of the Secretary of States’ section 182 guidance which states at paragraph 4.69; ‘In exceptional circumstances where the chief officer of police believes the transfer may undermine the crime prevention objective, the police may object to the transfer.’

5.         The Sub – Committee were cognisant of the Secretary of States’ section 182 guidance which states at paragraph 8.101; ‘In exceptional circumstances where the chief officer of police believes the transfer may undermine the crime prevention objective, the police may object to the transfer.’

6.         The Sub – Committee were cognisant of the Secretary of States’ section 182 guidance which states at paragraph 2.1; ‘Licensing authorities should look to the police as the main source of advice on crime and disorder.’

Decision

7.         The Sub – Committee was satisfied that the applicant was indeed a proxy to Mr Gurmeet Hakimzada’s applications. This is because;

a.         The Sub – Committee accepted the evidence presented by the police to demonstrate that contact details listed on the application form was of Mr Gurmeet Hakimzada. The applicant’s agent’s brief explanation for this was that Mr Gurmeet Hakimzada has been their client for a number of years and they had made an administrative error by adding his contact details of the application form. Simultaneously, it was said by the applicant that she had completed the form herself so two different accounts were given to the  ...  view the full decision text for item 5.