Borough Council secures £57k in costs after defeating Two Licensing appeals

The first case involved Maloney’s, a bar which opened in March 2024. Its licence was revoked in June 2024 following historic issues of violence and disorder.

District Judge Healey upheld the council’s decision on appeal and criticised the venue’s management. The operator was ordered to pay £27,417.58 in legal costs.

DJ Healey said the council submitted it had been made clear to the operator that if his appeal were unsuccessful, there would be full costs applied for.

The council said its costs claim was not “out of kilter” and if not met would fall on the public finances.

The operator submitted the court had wide discretion over costs and his appeal was not frivolous, with issues raised that were not involved in the initial hearing.

DJ Healey said it was reasonable for the council to instruct an experienced specialist licensing barrister and stated

“The costs claimed are significant, but I do accept that they have been reasonably incurred by the council in contesting the appeal. If they are not paid by the appellant, they will be borne by the council which will have an impact on the services they can provide to the residents of St Helens, which I do not believe is appropriate.”

The second case concerned an appeal by the operator of Bar 44 to the rejection of an application to extend operating hours from 3am to 5am every weekday.

DJ Healey noted that the bar was well run but was located in a declared cumulative impact area where the council had decided to limit additional alcohol sales

He accepted that for many years it had opened until 5:00am under a combination of the special days provisions and unchallenged applications for temporary events notices, but “

I do not accept the argument that this fact amounts to an exceptional circumstance justifying a departure from the framework hours contained within the licensing policy…until 3:00am”.

He added: “I am satisfied that the operators of the premises are experienced and capable, however the policy states that this is what is expected of all premises and cannot be a reason to depart from the policy.”

He ordered its owner to pay costs of £30,000.

The two appeal decisions promoted the Council’s regeneration strategy for St Helens town centre. In an online comment on the two results, Lorraine Simpson, the Council’s Licensing Team Manager, said:

“In St Helens we have spent the best part of the last two years at the Magistrates Court, defending these two appeals. The outcome of these cases was key to the work we and our partners have been doing to improve our night time economy. Had we lost these cases then the work already done would have been lost. The cases were a significant financial risk for the council and took months of complex evidence gathering and preparation for each case. The success of the cases could not have been achieved without input from partners, elected members and colleagues. Our appreciation goes to Merseyside Police for their dedicated support, our in-house Legal team who worked tirelessly alongside licensing and to Gary Grant whose work for us on both cases was outstanding. The only way is up for St Helens Night Time Economy.”

Gary Grant acted for St Helens Borough Council in both appeals instructed by their in-house legal department.