Personal Licence Holders And Relevant Criminal Offences
If you are a Personal Licence Holder you probably recall that when you applied for your Personal Licence you had to sign a form to say that you had not been convicted either in the U.K. or abroad of a relevant licensing offence.
You probably saw a long list of various criminal offences of many types not necessarily involving alcohol.
If at the time of your application you had been convicted of one of those offences not only were the Police likely to object to your application, but the Licensing Committee themselves might have decided to have a formal hearing rather than simply agree to the Personal Licence being granted.
What happens now if having got your Personal Licence you are subsequently charged and successfully prosecuted for a relevant criminal offence?
At the first hearing before the Magistrates you as the Personal Licence holder have a duty to tell the Court that you are a Personal Licence holder and a responsibility to hand over your Personal Licence. If you forget to do this you must do it as quickly as possible after the hearing, and if for any reason you are not able to hand over your Personal Licence you must hand it in to the Court as quickly as possible afterwards and be prepared to give the Court a sensible and reasonable explanation of why you have not handed it in.
The Magistrates can choose to suspend your Personal Licence, but even if they do not exercise that discretion, the Clerk to the Court will tell the Licensing Committee of your criminal conviction - and they can, and probably will, suspend your Personal Licence
Obviously this could have serious consequences for anybody holding a Personal Licence as it may be revoked or suspended by the Licensing Committee.
The situation is even more serious if the Personal Licence holder is also the Designated Premises Supervisor for the Premises Licence. If you lose your Personal Licence you are no longer able to be a Designated Premises Supervisor and consequently with no Designated Premises Supervisor alcohol must not be served. Most pub owners would not be able to make a living based on serving food and orange squash alone!
It is therefore particularly important that any Personal Licence holder who is also the Designated Premises Supervisor for a Premises Licence should give careful thought to his or her position as soon as he is charged with any criminal offence and get advice from a licensing specialist about the possible implications for the licence.
Ideally you should go to the first Magistrates Court hearing knowing exactly who you can appoint as an alternative DPS in your place should your licence be revoked or suspended, to allow you to continue operating the licensed premises in the usual way.
Getting Your Licence back
There are no set procedures for getting a Personal Licence back after it has been revoked or after you have volunteered to surrender it having made alternative arrangements for a Designated Premises Supervisor. It is open to you to apply for a Personal Licence at any time, but if you apply prematurely the Police are likely to object, in which case there is a formal hearing about the application.
There are no hard and fast rules about when an application would be premature and nor is there any guidance from established cases, since the regime has only been in place since 24 November last year.
It would probably be premature in a drink/driving case to seek the return of a Personal Licence before the driving disqualification has expired, but the Police have suggested that it would actually be premature in their view to seek a Personal Licence until the conviction is "spent" under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
Because of the impact on the livelihood of any licensee it is essential that if you are a Personal Licence holder involved in any criminal charges you should get specialised licensing advice at the earliest opportunity to protect your position.
For further information please contact Gillian Jones
