The owner of a Reading convenience store has been fined £28,000 after allowing an asylum seeker without permission to work in the UK to run the business on his behalf.
The case emerged during a licensing review hearing for Reading Express, an off-licence on Oxford Road, where councillors ultimately voted to revoke the store's licence to sell alcohol.
Store owner Ravinder Singh Arora admitted making a "big mistake" after an Afghan asylum seeker was found working alone at the premises during a joint visit by Reading Borough Council licensing officers and Home Office immigration enforcement officials.
The man entered the UK illegally in May 2018 and claimed asylum, but his application was refused in July 2020. He remains an asylum seeker while an appeal against the decision is being considered.
According to evidence presented at the hearing, Arora asked the man to open the store on 11 March after his wife suffered an asthma attack in the early hours of the morning. Arora said he had to take her to hospital in Hayes and was unable to attend the shop.
Later that day, licensing officers and immigration enforcement officials visited the premises and found the man working there alone.
Representing the retailer, licensing consultants Maninder Kaur and Surendra Panchal argued that the arrangement was made at short notice because of the family emergency. They said Arora had accepted responsibility for the incident and had already paid the £28,000 civil penalty imposed for employing a person without the legal right to work.
"I made a mistake; it was the biggest mistake in my whole life," Arora told the hearing.
The two men met in Afghanistan before coming to the UK. Arora is an Afghan national with legal status in this country.
Panchal said: "He has raised his hands up and said, 'I'm sorry it happened'."
However, council licensing officer Robert Smalley challenged the explanation, arguing that Home Office enforcement visits are intelligence-led rather than random.
"Immigration enforcement by the Home Office is intelligence-based. They don't do opportunistic visits," he said.
"It's unlikely that this is the first instance, it's more likely an act done because the owner saw a profit or loss of profit."
Members of the licensing applications sub-committee also questioned whether the decision to place the man in charge of the store was truly a last-minute arrangement.
Councillor Micky Leng said: "It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision to let him take over."
While expressing sympathy for the medical emergency involving Arora's wife, councillors concluded that allowing the shop to operate under the circumstances was unacceptable.
The committee voted on 11 June to revoke Reading Express's premises licence.
The decision means the store can no longer sell alcohol unless a successful appeal is lodged. Panchal said the retailer was considering challenging the ruling.