East London: Plaistow's Delondres Restaurant stripped of licence as Met Police catch owner breaking rules

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An East London restaurant has had its licence revoked after police walked in and found several ‘intoxicated’ customers still drinking and partying two hours after it was supposed to be closed.

Delondres Restaurant on Barking Road in Plaistow was stripped of its licence following a meeting with Newham Council’s licensing sub-committee on December 18.

The committee heard how Newham Licensing officers had submitted the review application which had been supported by Met Police officers following a visit to the African restaurant on Saturday, October 19.

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Met Police officers found customers drinking in the restaurant two hours after it was supposed to have closedMet Police officers found customers drinking in the restaurant two hours after it was supposed to have closed
Met Police officers found customers drinking in the restaurant two hours after it was supposed to have closed | Stock picture: Garry Knight/Flickr

On the night of the visit, police described how one male customer who was heavily intoxicated blew kisses at an officer and could be heard saying ‘Filho da puta’, which means ‘Son of a b*tch’ in Portuguese.

When police and licensing officers confronted the manager about being open at 1am when the premises should have closed at 11pm, they were told customers were ‘slow drinkers’ and all sales of alcohol had been before 11pm – despite police witnessing customers sitting with full pints of lager that were cold and saw open bottles of alcohol on every table.

Neither the licence holder or a representative for the licence holder were at last week’s meeting, however a statement was read out on their behalf.

In his statement, the licence holder apologised to the council, the Met Police and residents and said due to ‘overwhelming evidence’, he was under the impression that the premises licence would be revoked immediately, and announced he was putting the premises up for sale.

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During last week’s meeting, police told the committee how they witnessed customers still turning up to the restaurant past 1am, and said existing customers that were inside at the time ‘stunk of alcohol’ and were slurring their words.

Police asked the licence holder to turn the music off and ask customers to leave, which was when two male customers became ‘slightly aggressive’ with officers.

The customer that was blowing kisses at police staggered towards officers and told them he could ‘smash’ them if it wasn’t for their body worn camera.

The committee heard how another male customer kept pulling the lapel of one of the police officer’s own jackets over his camera.

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Delondres Restaurant on Barking Road in Plaistow was stripped of its licenceDelondres Restaurant on Barking Road in Plaistow was stripped of its licence
Delondres Restaurant on Barking Road in Plaistow was stripped of its licence | Google/LDRS

Councillor Tonii Wilson then asked police if they believed the actual licence holder was drunk on the night in question, which they said they believed he was.

The officer said: “I think I asked him about four times for a document, he kept getting distracted. His eyes were glazed and he smelt of alcohol.

“If you look at any camera footage, he’s not really easy on his feet and he gets distracted very easily and he’s not in the moment – shall we say.”

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He went on to describe how people kept walking into the restaurant past 1am with little challenge: “Bearing in mind it was 1.15am and people were just walking in.

“We had to tell [the licence holder], mate, are you going to tell these people that you’re closed because these people are just walking in here like it’s normal? Like he’s always operating at this time?”

The officer added: “Then he rang some little bell and he said five minutes drinking up time – five minutes drinking up was like two hours ago, it’s just ludicrous.”

When police and licensing officers were confronted by the two rowdy customers, they said the licence holder ‘kind of stood in the door and didn’t do nothing – he didn’t say to them stop it, he didn’t take control of anything, he just let them do it.’

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Police also reviewed CCTV footage for several dates after the October 19 visit which showed the restaurant open beyond 11pm, and on one occasion it showed a customer not leaving until 2am on a Monday morning.

The committee also considered letters and a petition from residents who had concerns with the premises and were in support of the licensing review.

After hearing from police, the meeting was adjourned while the committee made their decision in private.

The committee ultimately decided to revoke the licence and concluded the premises licence holder had ‘no regard’ for the premises licence and said the premises was in breach of ‘many basic fundamental licensing conditions’.

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