Closure order is revoked on Sussex pub

A licensee in Sussex has been left out of pocket despite the decision to suspend his licence being revoked.

Joseph Williams, licensee of the Sportsman in East Grinstead, was told he was to be removed as designated premises supervisor (DPS) and his pub would be forced to close for a month after a number of incidents, including alleged drug dealing on the premises.

The police insisted that he had failed to fulfil his role in a responsible manner and that his continuing appointment would undermine crime prevention and public safety objectives. This is despite the fact that Mr Williams was off sick and a temporary manager was running the pub for a four week period when the incidents occurred.

However, at the appeal magistrates found in favour of Mr Williams and overturned the decision, but he will not be compensated for the costs incurred during the legal wrangling.

Mr Williams, who is chair of the local Pubwatch scheme, said: "The case should never have been brought as there was no proof and I dismissed the temporary manager on my return anyway due to discrepancies with stock levels.

"It's disgusting and it has cost me £14,000. My revenues has also gone down from £2,500 a week to under £900."

David Lawrence, from DMH Stallard the solicitor who represented Mr Williams, said: "This case is the first opportunity that East Grinstead Police have had to exercise their new powers under the Licensing Act 2003 and they clearly wanted to make an example to set their stall out to all other licensees in the area.

"In doing so however they overstepped the mark and the council's licensing committee failed to recognise this at the review hearing, blindly adopting the police recommendations."

Chief Inspector Chris Ball of East Grinstead Police defended the action. He said: "We didn't feel that the DPS was showing due diligence. We were disappointed with the verdict and we will continue to monitor the premises."