Closed Swindon store could have alcohol licence removed

The shop was shut for three months last week

A Swindon shop that was temporarily closed after illegal tobacco was found to be stored there could have its alcohol licence revoked.

Swindon Borough Council's licensing committee is due to review Polo Market's licence, held by Saman Sabouri, on Monday.

The council last week gained a court order to close the premises for three months until mid-January.

Mr Sabouri can currently sell alcohol between 08:00 BST and 23:00 BST.

The shop, in Commercial Road, was closed last week after it was found to have illegal tobacco products on the premises on five separate occasions between March and October.

Counterfeit cigarettes were found in a fridge above the shop

The products were found during visits by Trading Standards, Wiltshire Police and HMRC, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In a report to councillors, it said that "during these visits a number of unlawful tobacco products have been seized and evidence has been found that these products are being sold/supplied via the premises.

"A visit by Wiltshire Police located a number of unlawful products concealed in a cupboard hidden behind a shelving unit."

The report claimed that some of the packaging was misspelled or had mistakes in the logo indicating that they were counterfeit.

Illegal tobacco

A number of the packages had health warnings in foreign languages or not at the size mandated in the UK, again indicating they were fake, it said.

At a court hearing which closed the shop for three months, Wiltshire Police officer PC Paul Bezzant said that on two visits to the shop he found illegal tobacco and cigarettes in a padlocked fridge/freezer placed in the communal area of the two-storey block of flats above the shop.

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The application to the licensing panel said: "Mr Sabouri attended court and did not contest that the incidents happened.

"He submitted that he had been out of the country and had suffered some medical problems. He did not elaborate on times.

"The magistrates determined that, on the balance of probabilities, a person had engaged in criminal behaviour on the premises, that the use of the premises has resulted in serious nuisance to members of the public and the closure order was necessary to prevent a reoccurrence of the above behaviour/conduct."

Additional reporting by Ollie Pritchard-Jones

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