Forest Row bar owner apologies for ‘single lapse of judgement’

On Tuesday (December 1), a panel of Wealden District Council licensing panel met to consider the alcohol sales licence of the Hop Yard Brewing Co. in Lewes Road.

The hearing came as a result of an application from the council’s own environmental health team, calling on councillors to either revoke or suspend the bar’s licence in light of evidence of drug use and alleged breaches of coronavirus regulations at the premises. 

In making the case, the council’s environmental health manager Una Kane highlighted one particular incident on June 19, when Sussex Police officer Daren Buck made a visit to the premises.

Giving evidence at the hearing, PC Buck described how he had pulled back a curtain within the premises and saw four people with drinks in their hands. These, he said, were two women sitting and drinking wine and two men standing and drinking pints.

He also found that the bar did not have a correctly registered Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) as required by licensing law.

As a result of his visit, PC Buck said he formed the opinion that the premises had been operating in breach of coronavirus legislation, by allowing people to drink on site.

A different view was taken by the business owner and licence holder Adam Harman-Clarke, however.

Addressing the incident on June 19, Mr Harman-Clarke said the women had been his mother and mother-in-law.  He denied that any other customer had been allowed to drink on site, disputing the evidence of Sussex Police.

He said: “It had been a very long and very difficult period for many of us and I know the two of them are good friends and had been isolating at home for almost three months and on almost their first time out of the house I did allow them to sit down inside. 

“That was a lapse of judgement on my part, which I can only apologise for. It was a mistake, but the thing that I think is very important to make clear here is that it was a single occasion with my mother. 

“It was not in any way that the Hop Yard was operating as a vertical drinking establishment, in the sense that any old customer could come in and have a pint inside. There were no members of the public who were able to do that at any time.

“It was a single lapse of judgement on one occasion, which I made to a very close family member.”

Mr Harman-Clarke also apologised for the lack of a correctly-registered DPS, but said the issue has now been resolved.  

He said the matter had resulted from a misunderstanding and that the premises had not been unsupervised at any time, despite the lack of a correctly-registered DPS. 

PC Buck returned to the premises on September 5, where he reported breaches to the Covid secure guidelines and drinking beyond the 10pm cut off.

During this same visit PC Buck took drug swabs in the premises’ toilets, which revealed high trace levels of cocaine and MDMA. 

During the hearing, Mr Harman Clarke attributed the issues with the Covid guidelines and drinking beyond 10pm to a lack of clarity surrounding government advice.

He also said he had been shocked by the drug readings and taken immediate action to prevent drug use within the bar, including the removal of toilet seats and the installation of high-power fans. 

Mr Harman-Clarke concluded by appealing for the panel to be lenient and to take a sanction other than revoking or suspending the licence.

The panel also heard from several Forest Row residents who spoke in support of the business, many of whom testified that the bar had coronavirus measures in place and that they had seen no evidence of drug use while on the premises. 

One of those residents – solicitor Sarah Vogel – argued that some of the breaches alleged to have taken place were not actually legal requirements at the time they were alleged to have occurred.

Forest Row ward councillor Patricia Patterson-Vanegas also spoke in support of the Hop Yard.

After hearing representations from all parties involved, the panel retired to consider their options in a private session. Their decision is expected to be published within the next five working days.

The panel had originally been set to meet at the beginning of November, but the hearing was rescheduled.