Shop where drugs were found can reopen, says court

A shop where illegal cigarettes, suspected cannabis and a nitrous oxide canister were found has been allowed to reopen.

The Allerton Off Licence premises in Bradford was raided by police and Trading Standards in October, when 237 packets of counterfeit cigarettes, bags of cannabis and weighing scales with cannabis residue on them were discovered, as well as cannabis vapes.

A three-month closure notice was slapped on the business, which is opposite a primary school, and it was described as a "hub of criminality".

But Bradford Magistrates' Court denied the city council an extension to the closure order after the shop's owner, Mahrwan Najat Mahmood, pleaded to be able to reopen.

The initial order was due to expire on Saturday and Bradford Council had applied to extend it for a further three months.

The store has also been stripped of its alcohol licence by the council's licensing panel, who were told by West Yorkshire Police that it was a "danger to children and a blight on the local community" which regularly attracted "intimidating individuals".

But magistrates denied the order, describing the council's legal submission as "appalling" and praising Mahmood's case.

They argued that keeping the shop shut "wouldn't make any difference whatsoever" to anti-social behaviour in the area.

Imran Hussain, representing Bradford Council at the hearing on Friday, said the shop had been blighted by groups of young people hanging around it.

There was evidence of drug use and littering.

He told the court that reports of anti-social behaviour in the area had halved in the month since the shop was closed.

But he admitted the issues had not been completely eliminated, and were "likely to return" to previous levels if the shop was allowed to reopen.

Efforts were under way with the landlord of the building to end Mahmood's tenancy and add CCTV to the site.

Hussain said the head of St Matthew's School had supported the order, saying that when the shop was open staff and parents were too afraid to park in the car park next to it.

Mahmood told the court he was willing to take the original three-month closure "on the chin".

He said his employees had left the drugs in the shop, and on the day of the raid he had only just returned from a holiday.

He gave magistrates a bundle of references and evidence that was not read out in open court, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Hussain said Mahmood had given three different stories as to how the drugs got into the shop.

In another instance he claimed they were for personal use, and on a third occasion, that the previous owners had left them there.

Addressing Hussain, the chair of the bench said: "Your submission was appalling. It referred to page numbers that didn't exist, and we got it 10 minutes before the case started.

"We don't think extending the order will make any difference whatsoever. Nothing has been done in the last three months.

"Mr Mahmood has done his best. The shop has shut and the anti-social behaviour is still continuing."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.