Wakefield takeaway Shalamar loses licence appeal as boss fails to show up at Leeds Magistrates Court

Shalamar, on Westgate in Wakefield, lost its licence to serve food into the small hours after a council hearing in April this year.

The takeaway premises failed to operate working CCTV and did not employ doormen when told to do so by the authorities.

But licence holder Hukam Rasool, who had blamed his older brother for the issues, failed to turn up at Leeds Magistrates Court on Monday morning, where he was expected to present his appeal against the decision.

In his absence the case was dismissed. Magistrates also ruled that Rasool must pay £900 to Wakefield Council to cover their legal fees for the case.

It comes four years after an online video surfaced of customers dancing to loud music at the fast food outlet, which also landed bosses in trouble over rule breaches. The footage has been viewed 82,000 times on YouTube.

The premises then had its late night licence revoked in 2018, but this ruling was later reversed on appeal after they agreed to a number of conditions, including the employment of door staff.

Shalamar has continued to open past 11pm, legitimately, since April, while the appeals process took its course. But it will now be banned from doing so.

The appeal was due to be heard on Monday, but Rasool failed to show up to present his case.

At the licensing hearing seven months ago, Rasool pleaded with councillors for another chance to comply with the law after taking over the day-to-day running of the business from his brother.

He said: "It's a family business and my brother is much older than me.

"I kept saying to him, "Look we need to do these things", but he wouldn't listen to me. He wanted to do it his way.

"My brother didn't want me at the place at the time. Whenever I asked him about these things, he'd say, "Oh, I'll do it next week."

"I know it's down to me. It's my fault."

Local Democracy Reporting Service