Pub landlord loses licence as police say locals ‘frightened’ by ‘dysfunction’
A pub landlord has been stripped of his licence following a series of complaints. “Multiple residents” told their local council about ongoing problems they’d had with the boozer on their road.
Now, as a result, Sean Kennedy, who runs The Knoxbridge in Frittenden, Kent, has fumed he’ll probably “go on the dole” after having his livelihood snatched from him. The decision was made on Thursday, July 11, during a licence review.
Kent Police’s report for the hearing, conducted by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, highlighted numerous issues with the pub, including after-hours entertainment, disorderly parties, children staying too late, and assaults.
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Sean told KentLive that the licensing committee gave him a five-day notice before terminating his designated premises supervisor (DPS) licence, which is required to serve alcohol.
“Five days and my DPS is taken off me. What will I do? Go on the dole probably,” Sean lamented. When asked if his partner could apply for a licence, he responded: “We’re not even going to bother. It’s literally complaints every other week. They phone up every single week to complain about things.”
Mr Kennedy also mentioned that there had been “There’s been at least 10 to 15 occasions where they have asked for CCTV. We have given it to prove them wrong. We’ve provided the CCTV,” where they were asked for CCTV footage, which they provided to disprove the complaints. He admitted that entertainment had run late on a “couple of occasions”, but insisted he had temporary event notices from the council for those events, reports Kent Live.
He revealed that they lived off-site, leaving their barmaid without a place to live.
“As long as the residents are happy, that’s all that matters. All our savings went into this place,” he said.
Kent Live previously reported Kent Police had detailed in its report the reasons behind the call for a review. It included an incident on March 30.
Police said between 00.27am and 1.03am, calls were again made to Kent Police about “disorder” coming from a “party” at the pub.
“One caller stated that they had been at the party and they, along with their partner, had been assaulted. Other calls from local residents reporting disturbance and nuisance at the location, including a motorbike riding back and forth in front of the premises before stopping and engaging with customers in the front garden area,” said police.
Kent Police said there was “clear evidence” the pub was failing to comply with six conditions attached to its premises licence. The force called for the committee to consider taking away the premises licence as there was “clear disregard for the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.
It also said there was a “lack of respect for any authority such as police or licensing authority and requests for CCTV have been outright refused and all advice regarding the adherence to hours for entertainment and compliance with conditions has been repeatedly ignored”.
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