Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Fuller was appointed Chair.

There were no declarations of interests.

Under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the press and public be excluded for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that the report contains information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Agenda item and paragraph numbers:

Item 4 - Licensing Act 2003 Consideration of a Premises Licence.

(Under exemption paragraph numbers 1, 2 & 3)

Exemption paragraph numbers:

1. Information relating to an individual

2. Information that is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

(Members are asked to hand in their confidential papers to the Democratic

Services Officer at the end of the meeting).

The Legal Advisor gave advice about holding the hearing in exempt session

and informed Mr Lewis that if it were held in open session, his personal details

would be made public.

Mr Lewis said that he would prefer the hearing to be held in open session.

DECISION

The hearing would be held in open session.

RECOMMENDED that the committee determine this matter.

The Licensing Officer introduced his report.

ln response to questions from members, he clarified the following points:

·         The Magistrates Court had failed to engage with the Licensing Department.  The latter lodged a formal complaint to obtain the information that had been requested and visited the court to speak to court officers.  The Licensing Officer was told that Mr Lewis had not informed them that he was in possession of a personal licence.

·         Mr Lewis had emailed the Licensing Department on 12 February 2018 about the convictions recorded against him.

·         Mr Lewis and the Licensing Department exchanged various emails regarding his visits to the office for interview, to update his address (at the end of April) and regarding this hearing. There had been an ongoing dialogue between them.

Mr Lewis had no questions for the Licensing Officer

Mr Lewis asked the committee to consider the following points:

·         This is a unique case due to the extreme circumstances around the eviction.

·           The police had been told of the eviction beforehand which explains why so       many were available to attend; 19 officers and 4 sniffer dogs.

·         He had been under pressure because he had been told many lies by Councillor Donna Jones and the rest of her political party. He had not been told that he would have to leave on that date. He had been assured that he would be given alternative premises on a rolling contract basis.  

·         He had built his life's dream and had been running the lodge for 17 years without incident.

·         He had acted recklessly not violently. He is not a violent man. He had not hit any police officers and was simply protecting a valuable community centre, the city's only cultural hub.

·         He did not care if his licence was taken away but he would want it back before he took over the running of the lodge again in a few years' time.

·         The fact that the Tories had been ousted was proof that justice would prevail.

ln response to questions from members, he explained that:

·         The allegations were heard at Brighton Magistrates' Court because Councillor Donna Jones is a magistrate in Portsmouth.

·         He had received an order to complete 120 hours of community service and a £200 fine.

·         He attended the first session of community service which involved chopping back weeds and trees in Staunton Park. He had to wear a bright vest community payback which he felt was humiliating. Three days after the session (6.5 hours of hard labour) the arthritis in his left elbow aggravated by the work was still painful. The doctor gave him tablets and a certificate declaring him unfit for work for two months. This excused him from doing the community service. His certificate was renewed two months later and he applied to the court to revoke the community service order. The court removed it because it was deemed unworkable and imposed a £300 fine instead. His friends paid the fine for him.

·         He had given 70,000 hours of voluntary hours  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.