Employment of a Bar Manager

Q: I recently employed a new bar manager. When I employed the individual, he told me that he had a personal licence. I put him forward recently as DPS and then discovered that he had lied on his job application and he did not hold a personal licence after all. By the time I discovered this, the individual had already been running the bar for 7 days as DPS. I sacked him immediately but am now concerned that I may be liable for selling alcohol without a DPS.

A: Technically, you could be prosecuted as one of the mandatory conditions is that there is no sale of alcohol without a DPS. A DPS is a person who holds a personal licence. However, I doubt very much that the Crown Prosecution Service will think that it is in the public interest to prosecute. Clearly, you have been misled by this individual. I assume the individual provided you with a consent form which you submitted with the application to appoint him as DPS and on that he had stated the Local Authority who had allegedly granted his personal licence and provided a personal licence number. Incidentally, the individual has committed a number of criminal offences – obtaining a pecuniary advantage (a job) by deception and making a false statement in connection with a licence application. However, once again, I doubt that the Crown Prosecution Service will believe it is in the public interest to pursue a case. In the future, I would suggest that before you employ somebody as a personal licence holder that, as opposed to relying upon a statement in an application form, you request a copy of his or her personal licence; after all they should have their licence on them when they are on duty.