Truro night club owner fined for breaching licensing hours

Cornwall Council solicitor Mark Andrews told the court that the owner of the club, Darren Hoare, had applied for a temporary event notice to cover the missing hour when the clocks changed to

British summertime, however the application was not submitted within the legal time limits and, therefore, could not be progressed.

Mr Hoare was informed of the situation by the council’s licensing officer who said this meant the nightclub would not be able to open for the additional hour. This was also confirmed by the licensing officer for Devon and Cornwall Police.

Despite this advice Mr Hoare decided to keep the club open without the required temporary event notice being in place. This was observed by police officers on the night, with Mr Hoare deciding not to close despite their intervention. As a result the matter was reported to the council’s licensing compliance team.

In mitigation Mr Hoare’s barrister told the court that Mr Hoare had been a licence holder for over ten years and this was the first time that he had done anything wrong or breached his licence in any way.

She said he accepted it was a poor decision which had been made without thinking of the potential consequences. The court also heard that a number of people in the local community had written in support of Mr Hoare, who was a former chairman of the Truro Pub Watch Scheme, and supported a number of local charities.

Announcing the sentence, the magistrates said that Mr Hoare had recklessly broken the conditions of his licence despite clearly knowing the licensing regulations.

Following the hearing Bob Mears, Cornwall Council’s senior licensing compliance officer, said: “It is a great shame that a person of Mr Hoare’s integrity and standing in the community placed himself in such a position. The council takes a very serious view regarding breaches of licensing legislation and will take the necessary action when required."