Birmingham store loses licence following illicit vodka seizure

A convenience store in Northfield, Birmingham where police officers discovered illicit Krackoff vodka and fake wine has lost its alcohol licence.

Ark Convenience Store in Turves Green has been stripped of its premises licence while licence holder Surinder Singh has also been removed as the shop’s designated premises supervisor (DPS).

The decision follows a Birmingham City Council licensing sub-committee hearing during which councillors heard more than 70 bottles of illicit vodka and fake wine were found at the shop.

The discovery of the Krackoff vodka follows reports from Lincolnshire of dangerous vodka being found at a shop – though tests showed the vodka from Ark was not harmful to health.

But no duty had been paid on the three bottles of Krackoff, while more than 70 bottles of wine belonging to different brands were also found following a report in February from Crimestoppers.

Chris Hopkins, representing the shop, said Singh’s son Amrit had purchased the wine from a “representative” – at no point thinking the salesperson was not legitimate, the meeting heard.

No invoice had been found for the vodka, which could have been on the shelves for a significant period of time, the meeting heard.

The sub-committee consisted of chair Cllr Nicky Brennan (Lab, Sparkhill), Cllr Mary Locke (Lab, Stirchley) and Cllr Neil Eustace (Lib Dem, Yardley East), have now given their decision.

It states: “The sub-committee took the statements of the licence holder and his son into account, but looked askance at their suggestion that it was the son who had taken it upon himself to purchase alcohol from ‘a representative’ in the licence holder’s absence; this showed a lack of professional supervision and control by the licence holder.

“It was said that staff training had been refreshed following the incident, but the issue of counterfeit alcohol was very serious, and the sub-committee considered that the fact that the incident had happened at all was unacceptable.

“After hearing all the evidence, the sub-committee determined that the purchase and sale of counterfeit alcohol was indeed so serious that it could not be tolerated, and therefore resolved to revoke the licence, as recommended by West Midlands Police.

“The sub-committee had grave concerns about the manner in which this premises had been operating, and agreed with Trading Standards that the operation had been managed in a way that was not merely irresponsible, but also illegal.”