A plan to open a new sports bar in Harrow has been thrown out by the council after the applicant failed to attend the licensing hearing, with the Panel Chair saying it would be “wrong” to proceed in his absence.
Riley Sports Limited had applied for a new premises licence for Riley Sports Bar on Northolt Road in South Harrow. The application was due to be heard by Harrow Council’s Licensing Panel on January 15.
However, the panel decided to “disallow” the application after company director Riley Gerard Boyd did not attend the hearing.
The Metropolitan Police had objected to the application, telling the panel they believe the applicant is “closely linked” to the previous owners of the now-closed venue.
Police documents submitted to the council claim the former operators were allegedly involved in criminal activity, including alleged drug dealing, handling stolen goods, assaults and unlicensed trading. No criminal convictions relating to Mr Boyd were presented to the panel.
A police officer attending the hearing told councillors they “strongly believe” Mr Boyd is connected to the previous management and claimed they were “not surprised” he failed to attend.
The officer said police believe Mr Boyd is being used to “revive the licence to be used by the same management”.
In written submissions, police said they “strongly believe” Mr Boyd is using his company and name to bring the premises back under the control of the former operators.
The documents also claim that, at a meeting on November 13, Mr Boyd “admitted to the police and local authority” that his name and alcohol licence training certificate had previously been used by the former management, who allegedly used them to mislead authorities.
Police also questioned whether Mr Boyd, who is 20 years old, is capable of running the premises, citing what they described as a lack of experience, no clear operating dates and an absence of proper health and safety planning.
A Harrow Council licensing officer told the panel: “We have been in touch with the applicant quite a bit. We have tried to have four meetings with him, out of which he has only attended one.
“The applicant has been told several times by myself that the hearing is taking place today, so he has had all the opportunity and all the notification he needs to be here.”
Panel Chair Cllr Ramji Kanji Chauhan said it would be “pointless” to hear the evidence without the applicant present and that it would be “wrong” for the panel to proceed while he was not there to defend himself.
After waiting ten minutes for Mr Boyd to attend, the panel took the decision to disallow the application.
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
