Store Owner Fined £28,000 for Licensing Breach

Reading Express owner Ravinder Singh Arora has been fined £28,000 and had the shop's alcohol licence revoked after letting an Afghan asylum seeker run the off-licence on Oxford Road.

The man, who entered the UK in May 2018 and had an asylum claim refused in July 2020 but is appealing, was staying at Mr Singh Arora's home in Hayes. Mr Singh Arora says he asked him to open the shop while he took his wife to hospital after an asthma attack on 11 March.

Immigration enforcers and council licensing officers later found the man working at the store and escorted him outside. A licensing review at Reading Borough Council led to the licence being revoked on Thursday, June 11, so the shop can no longer sell alcohol.

At the hearing Mr Singh Arora was represented by Maninder Kaur and Surendra Panchal, who said the man was appointed at the last minute because of the emergency. Mr Singh Arora said: "I made a mistake; it was the biggest mistake in my whole life."

Council licensing officer Robert Smalley said: "Immigration enforcement by the Home Office is intelligence-based. They don’t do opportunistic visits. It’s unlikely that it just happened to be this way."

Cllr Paul Woodward added: "An asthma can very frightening. I hope she makes progress in her recovery."

The decision was made by councillors Woodward, Micky Leng and Louise Keane. Mr Panchal said he felt the decision was unfair and that Mr Singh Arora is considering an appeal.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter