R (Daniel Thwaites plc) v Wirral Magistrates' Court
[2008] EWHC 838 (Admin)
Independent editorial summary — not the official judgment. Read the full judgment via the source link.
Ratio Decidendi
A magistrates' court hearing a licensing appeal must found any restriction on the evidence relevant to the statutory licensing objectives, giving proper weight to the 'light touch' philosophy of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Secretary of State's guidance; a conclusion resting on unevidenced speculation about matters such as customer migration is not one a properly directed bench could lawfully reach.
Facts
Daniel Thwaites plc, owner of the Saughall Hotel in Saughall Massie, Wirral, applied to convert its premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 and vary it to extend trading hours. Although the police did not object to the hours ultimately proposed and no formal complaints about the premises had been recorded under the old or new regime, local objectors (including the Saughall Massie Conservation Society) appealed the licensing authority's grant to the Wirral Magistrates' Court, which restricted the hours after a hearing.
Judgment Summary
The Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) quashed the magistrates' decision on judicial review. Black J held that the magistrates had treated a mere possibility that customers might migrate from other premises as if it were an established risk, without any evidential foundation and despite the absence of any police objection on that ground, and had failed to measure their own impressions against the evidence actually given. Their conclusion that restricted hours were necessary was accordingly one that a properly directed bench could not have reached.
Subsequent Treatment
Regularly cited in licensing appeal cases.
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