Leney and Co fail to do adequate due diligence (1895)

Post date: Jan 23, 2012 4:21:39 PM

The following Sittingbourne petty sessions case was obviously seen as of sufficient importance to warrant reporting in the Worcester Journal on 8th June 1895.

IMPORTANT LICENSING CASE.

At the Sittingbourne Petty Sessions, on Tuesday, Archibald Burke, landlord of the Ship Inn, Milton- next-Sittingbourne, was prosecuted by the police for permitting gambling on his premises on Sunday night, May 26. The chief witness for the prosecution was Sergeant Taylor, who stated that, when in company with a constable, he heard a noise proceeding from the back of defendant's premises, and on climbing over a fence he saw. through a window, Burke and two other men playing "brag" with a pack of cards for money, and this continued for an hour. Shortly before midnight, he entered the premises and seized the cards. Mr. F. G. Gibson defended on behalf of the Licensed Victuallers' Protection Association, and several witnesses were called who gave a flat denial to the evidence of the police. The magistrates, however, disbelieved what they said and convicted defendant, who was fined £10, while the Bench endorsed the licence.

The house in question was recently purchased at an auction sale for a high price by Messrs. Leney and Co., brewers Wateringbury, Kent, under a lease, but the purchasers do not come into possession until October. Upon hearing the sentence Mr. Gifkin, the agent for Messrs. Leney and Co. said he hoped the Bench would reconsider their decision to endorse the licence. He said that Messrs. Leney had given a lot of money for the house, and it would be very hard on them if the licence were endorsed. The Chairman (Mr. G. H. Dean) said that where there were two licensed houses close together, and a lot of money was given for one house, it was done at the purchaser's risk, and the owners must take the consequences. The licence, he added, would be endorsed. Mr. Gifkins asked whether he could give notice of appeal, but the magistrates' clerk (Mr. J. Tassell) said he could not do it.

See also Phoenix brewery publicly floats for story of their public float a year later in 1896.