News-Former pub manager fined for licensing breaches

Tanya Hardy, 42, of Catherine Terrace in Shield Row, appeared at Peterlee Magistrates' Court on Friday 12 July after we prosecuted her.

She was convicted of three offences under the Licensing Act 2003 relating to her time as designated premises supervisor at the Top House pub on Front Street in Stanley.

The pub is now under new management.

Licensing breaches prompted legal action

The court heard a number of variations to the pub's licence conditions came into effect in June last year following a series of incidents.

But police and licensing officers discovered breaches in the weeks that followed, which prompted us to take legal action.

Two of the offences related to Hardy's failure to have three door supervisors on duty as required, and her failure to ensure door supervisor logs were kept and maintained.

The third offence related to her being unable to produce recorded CCTV footage of an incident when lawfully requested to do so by the police, though an officer did manage to record the footage from the monitor's screen.

Hardy also failed to respond to three written requests from licensing officers for her to attend interviews to discuss the offences.

Defendant no longer works in the pub trade

In mitigation, Hardy's defence told magistrates she is well-known and well-respected in the community, and that she no longer works in the pub trade.

They added that she accepts the breaches and that she was naïve for not responding to the interview requests and was not being deliberately obstructive.

The magistrates fined Hardy £294, revoked her personal licence, and ordered her to pay £250 in costs as well as a £118 victim surcharge.