Licensing Committee Suspends Manager’s Licence

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30451, 27 May 1964, Page 7

Licensing Committee Suspends Manager’s Licence

A police application for suspension of the certificate of Durham Stuart Ogilvie, manager of the King George Hotel (Mr J. G. Leggat), was granted by the Canterbury Licensing Committee yesterday. Ogilvie’s certificate was suspended for three months from June 1.

The -police application is believed to be the first of its type in Christchurch, and possibly in New Zealand. The committee comprised Messrs E. A. Lee, S.M. (chairman), W. E. Olds, M. E. Jenkins, and T. F. Carter. Inspector G. E. Twentyman told the committee that the application was being made because of Ogilvie’s record as manager. In the year since March, 1963, Ogilvie had been convicted on nine charges brought under the Sale of Liquor Act. He also had one conviction against him under the old act. Inspector Twentyman said that Ogilvie’s offences included selling to a minor and selling after hours. The police considered the sale of liquor to minors was irresponsible. Trouble had been caused in Christchurch because youths obtained liquor. Counsel’s Submissions Mr Leggat said that there were only six court appearances involved in the charges. One incident could sometimes lead to more than one charge. The lightness of many of the fines imposed on Ogilvie, he submitted, showed the less serious nature of the offences. Ogilvie’s record was very much better than at first appeared. Nowhere was there mention of a group of persons being found unlawfully on the premises. Ogilvie was 30, and had been concerned with hotels all his life. The owners of the hotel had found him a good tenant, and he had been a good manager for his mother, who was the lessee, Mr Leggat said. The hotel was one where the pressures on the licensee were far greater than at other hotels, because of its location in a working-class area. Ogilvie was astonished when he first went to the hotel to find the first Sunday’s trading realised £l2l, Mr Leggat said. He had now reduced this to often about £4, which came from the normal legal Sunday trade. Ogilvie had not, in a wholesale way, flouted the law. Evidence by Ogilvie Ogilvie said in evidence that he had never been convicted of an offence involving persons unlawfully in the bar. He gave evidence along the lines outlined by Mr Leggat, and produced testimonials from several visiting police football and sports clubs which . had stayed at the hotel. “Did you notice any of the visiting policemen disturbed in their conscience?” Mr Leggat asked. Ogilvie: No. When asked what Sunday trading he found when he arrived at the hotel, Ogilvie replied, amid laughter: “I might as well have stayed on the West Coast.” He added that he ■ had gradually curtailed the Sunday trading until it ceased. There was now no after-hours trading. John James Coffey, the les- . sor of the hotel, said that Ogilvie had been a satisfactory manager. “Bad Record” The chairman said Ogilvie’s record in the hotel was a bad one, and were he applying for a new certificate he would have considerable difficulty. . The committee wished it to be known that it expected licensees and managers to carry out their obligations. If they did not, the future of offenders in the trade would be jeopardised. Convictions and penalties had not discouraged Ogilvie

from offending. The supplying of liquor to minors was regarded particularly seriously. To show the committee’s disapproval of Ogilvie’s record and to impress on managers and licensees the committee’s displeasure at such conduct, his manager’s certificate would be suspended for three months. APPLICATIONS FAIL An application'by H. K. G. Copland, of the Leeston Hotel (Mr P. P. R. Mulligan), for the use of the bar to entertain guests was dismissed. Copland said in evidence that there was no suitable place in the hotel for him to entertain friends. If the bar could be used he would feel freer to have friends in. At present they had to sit in the kitchen or, if there were no guests, in the guests’ sittingroom. The Chairman said that a room could be converted to a sittingroom, although this would mean the loss of one guest room. The committee also dismissed an application by M. F. Neiman, of the Valley Inn Hotel (Mr O. J. Colke), for the use of the bar to entertain guests. The family included two daughters, and there was nowhere for them to study or entertain friends but in their bedrooms, Mr Colke said. There were six guest rooms, of which two were occupied by permanent lodgers, Neiman said. NEW WINE SHOP An application by Wine Cellars (N.Z.), Ltd. (Mr A. D. Holland), for a wine reseller’s licence was approved. The approval is subject to the premises being put in order, at which time, evidence hav-

ing been produced to a further meeting of the committee, a. licence will be granted. The application was opposed by Mr G. T. Mahon, for the Caledonian Hotel, and by Mr J. G. Leggat, for Fletcher, Humphreys, and Co., Ltd. Mr Holland said the application concerned a shopping block between Colombo and Manchester streets in Edgeware road. The shop would be at 76 Edgeware road. It was the second suburban licence sought by the company, which was completely independent and stocked a wide variety of New Zealand wines. The area to be served was a large residential one comprising 15,000 persons. The shop would serve an even larger number than this, Mr Holland submitted. The Caledonian Hotel was in the area, but it did not provide an adequate supply of New Zealand wine. Eric Noel Black, of the applicant company, gave evidence as outlined by Mr Holland. He said he had visited the Caledonian Hotel and found it had few New Zealand table wines. To Mr Leggatt, Black said he knew that Fletcher, Humphreys, and Co., Ltd., was building a store near Bealey avenue. Mr Leggat submitted that consideration should be given to wholesalers, and that no unsatisfied demand had been shown. R. G. Kingscote, managing director of Fletcher, Humphreys, and Company, Ltd., said there was poor availability of table , wines. Some vineyards were completely unable to meet the demand. The applicant would be in direct competition with his firm. Martin Leo Coffey, manager of the Caledonian Hotel, said his hotel stocked four brands of New Zealand wines. There was no demand for other brands, but if there was a demand they would be stocked. It was intended to build a drive-in bottle store. It seemed to the committee that a service by an independent concern was desirable in the area, the chairman said.