£3,000 costs bill angers council boss

Feb 25 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A COUNCIL boss has hit out at magistrates who ordered his authority to pay police more than £3,000 in legal costs.

Durham magistrates ordered Derwentside District Council and nightclub entrepreneur Sudkhev “Sonny” Gill to pay £3,000 each to Durham Police after overturning a decision by its licensing committee to allow Mr Gill to stay open until 4.30am.

The majority of the costs concerned the fee to a barrister hired by the police, who successfully argued that an extension to Mr Gill’s club, Decades, in Front Street, Consett, would lead to an increase in crime and disorder.

Last October, Derwentside Council licensing committee said Mr Gill could open two hours longer at Decades in Front Street, Consett, despite hearing police describe the clientele as “hard-drinking, violent and aggressive”.

Police appealed against the decision and the appeal was upheld last week.

David Balls, chairman of the bench at Durham Magistrates, criticised the committee for failing to “address any of the licensing objectives.”

He therefore ordered they pay half the £6.627 legal costs and Mr Gill the remaining half.

But Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, described the awarding of the costs as “diabolical and unfair.”

He said: “I am pleased the appeal was upheld but am bitterly disappointed the council has been ordered to pay more than £3,000.

“I think it is desperately unfair. The licensing panel acted in good faith based on the evidence put to them at the time. This action is unprecedented and we will be considering appealing against it.”

Officers told the hearing that between July 2006 and July 2007 there were 36 incidents attributed to Decades. When it was closed by fire in August town centre violence decreased.

But Coun Watson argued: “When the committee made its decision in October those statistics were not available to them.”