Shopkeeper fined for illegal alcohol sales

Thursday January 19, 2012

A shopkeeper who sold alcohol without a licence has been prosecuted and fined by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

Rashad Khan, director of the two Prime Food stores in Fulham Broadway and at Bank Buildings, was fined £1,000 for each of the four offences of selling alcohol without a licence to officers carrying out test purchases in 2010. These were once in July, twice on the same day in August and again in October.

As well as the total fine of £4,000, Khan – who was not present in Hammersmith Magistrates Court on December 21, 2011, to hear the case – was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £3,323.67 to H&F Council.

Khan had been operating with a lapsed licence since June 2009 but he continued to peddle booze without a licence, even after warnings and an order from the council to stop selling alcohol.

On October 9, 2010, a police community support officer saw alcohol being sold at the Bank Buildings store.

Khan failed to attend three interviews with licensing officers and he was proved guilty in his absence at court, with Deputy District Judge Leigh sentencing.