Shopkeeper who faces losing his licence told to get interpreter

COUNTERFEIT CIGARETTES FOUND HIDDEN AT SHOP

A SYRIAN man facing the loss of his shop’s alcohol licence after counterfeit cigarettes were found hidden at the premises has been told to get himself an interpreter.

Baran Omar appeared on his own before councillors on Hull City Council licensing sub-committee as they heard an application by Humberside Police to revoke his licence for the Midland Local store in Anlaby Road near the city centre.

The police claimed the stash of 260 illicit cigarettes and 21 bags of tobacco stored in a fridge was a clear breach of the shop’s licensing conditions, which require him to combat crime and disorder.

During the hearing, he said he could not understand several questions being put to him.

Eventually, councillors adjourned the meeting until May 20 to give him the chance to find someone to act as an interpreter.

Council solicitor Stephen Turner said: “The committee finds itself in some difficulty in deciding on the level of comprehension of Mr Omar in this matter.

“They are not satisfied he understands the basis of the police case against him, or the possible outcomes. That is potentially unfair and, therefore, in the interests of fairness it is proposed to adjourn the meeting to the next available date.”

Mr Omar did acknowledge he had “done wrong” by hiding the foreign-labelled cigarettes and tobacco in a storeroom fridge and trying to mask their scent by using coffee grains and an air freshener also stored in the fridge.

The ploy failed because a trained sniffer dog still tracked down the items during a routine compliance visit carried out by police and trading standards officers.

Asked why he was on his own, Mr Omar said he could not afford to pay a consultant who had represented him at a previous meeting last November when the shop’s licence was suspended for three months after the seizure of a similar stash of illicit cigarettes and tobacco.

When asked if he understood the risk of having his licence revoked, he replied: “Yes. If I do not sell alcohol I have no money to pay rent.”

Earlier, Humberside Police senior legal officer Olivia Bennyworth said criminal activities were taking place at the shop on a regular basis. She claimed Mr Omar told officers in March that he would simply carry on concealing counterfeit items there.

She said: “In this case, he should be complying with the law and is failing to do so and he has said he has no intention of stopping this activity.”