A 15-year-old successfully bought alcohol from Ruya Food and Wine in St James Street last October, while two 14-year-olds were able to buy a £5 vape in April, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
A shop in Walthamstow has had its licence revoked after underage customers were allegedly able to buy alcohol and vapes.
Global Food and Drink, now trading as Ruya Food and Wine in St James Street, was visited five times by Waltham Forest Council’s Trading Standards team between late 2021 and 2024.
A representative told the licensing committee there were “very real concerns” about the shop and “no other choice” remained but to revoke its licence.
Councils across the UK operate under the Licensing Act 2003, which lays out four objectives: preventing crime and disorder, upholding public safety, avoiding public nuisance, and protecting children from harm.
Most decisions to issue or rescind a licence are down to whether those objectives will be upheld.
According to a council report, a 15-year-old successfully bought alcohol from the St James Street store last October, while two 14-year-olds were able to buy a £5 vape in April.
In other instances, officers were allegedly able to purchase duty-evaded cigarettes. A sniffer dog also reportedly uncovered 54 packs of illicit cigarettes at the back of the shop during a search.
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The shop was not working to the “benefit” of the community, the Trading Standards officer told the committee.
The recent appointment of Bilgin Redzheb as the licence holder was also found to go against licensing conditions.
In 2017, the committee imposed a constraint on the premises that prevented Redzheb from being involved in its management.
Despite this condition remaining in place, the licence was successfully transferred from father to son in May this year.
Redzheb said he took over the shop in a bid to improve its reputation and had been training staff to check IDs and follow age laws.
His solicitor told the committee: “Things have clearly moved on.”
He added that it would be “extremely unfair” to take action against Redzheb, who had “not done anything wrong in the last seven years”.
The requirement to prevent Redzheb from being involved had apparently been missed by the licensing team.
But councillor Richard Sweden, one of the three committee members, said the condition was “clear” and it was “incumbent” on Redzheb not to apply for a licence. He described the licencee’s attitude as “cavalier”.
After around 20 minutes of deliberation, committee chair Sally Littlejohn told Redzheb his licence would be revoked in order to uphold Waltham Forest’s licensing objectives.
She told him that he had 21 days to appeal the decision to the Magistrates’ Court, and would receive a letter outlining the committee’s reasoning in due course.
The shop was seen with its shutters closed the following day.
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