Hunt v Karora [2003] NZLLA 742 (2 October 2003)

Last Updated: 22 January 2012

Decision No. PH 742/2003 –
PH 743/2003

IN THE MATTER of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989

AND

IN THE MATTER of an application pursuant to s.135 of the Act for cancellation of General Manager’s Certificate number GM 007/769/2002 issued to JOSHUA (SHANE) KARORA

BETWEEN ROYSTON BRUCE HUNT
(Auckland District Licensing Authority Inspector)

Applicant

AND JOSHUA (SHANE) KARORA

Respondent

AND an application by JOSHUA (SHANE) KARORA pursuant to s.123 for renewal of a General Manager’s Certificate

BEFORE THE LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY

Chairman: District Court Judge E W Unwin
Member: Mr J C Crookston

HEARING at AUCKLAND on 22 September 2003

APPEARANCES

No appearance by or on behalf of Joshua (Shane) Karora
Mr R B Hunt - Auckland District Licensing Agency Inspector – applicant and in opposition to application for renewal of manager’s certificate
Constable D Johnston - NZ Police - in opposition to application for renewal of manager’s certificate

ORAL DECISION OF THE AUTHORITY

[1] Before the Authority are two applications. The first application is by Joshua (Shane) Karora for renewal of his General Manager’s Certificate. The second application is an application for cancellation of that certificate. The applicant for the cancellation is Royston Bruce Hunt, a District Licensing Agency Inspector. The grounds for the application are that the conduct of the manager is such as to show that he is not a suitable person to hold the certificate.

[2] The grounds for opposing the application for renewal, and for cancellation of the General Manager’s Certificate are the same.

[3] It is alleged that Mr Karora has not only shown that he is unsuitable because of two convictions which occurred since the certificate was issued, but that he has compounded that issue, by dishonestly misrepresenting his previous convictions in the application which he filed for renewal.

[4] Mr Karora was first granted a General Manager’s Certificate on 23 July 2002. Because he worked for James Gilmore and Co Limited, the application for renewal was handled by Swain and Associates. Mr Swain has appeared today seeking leave to withdraw. He confirmed that an application for renewal of the General Manager’s Certificate was sent to Mr Karora. It was tagged with the question whether he had any convictions since the certificate was issued. The document was returned by Mr Karora and no convictions were disclosed. Accordingly the application was filed.

[5] The Police checked on the application, and discovered that Mr Karora had in fact received two convictions since the issue of the certificate. The convictions were recorded in the District Court in Auckland on 5 September 2002, and 20 February 2003. On the first occasion Mr Karora was convicted of driving with an excess blood alcohol content. The level was 122 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

[6] Mr Karora was convicted and fined. Within six months of that conviction, Mr Karora drove while disqualified. On 20 February 2003 he was fined and further disqualified.

[7] Both the Police and the District Licensing Agency Inspector submitted that Mr Karora had failed to disclose these convictions in his application, having been notified by the agent that any such convictions were of importance and should be disclosed. Secondly in view of the convictions themselves, the question was asked whether Mr Karora was in a position to ensure that the law in relation to the licensed premises where he worked, would be obeyed.

[8] There is a third aggravating feature in this case. Mr Karora has not appeared to support his application for the renewal of his General Manager’s Certificate, or to answer the application for cancellation. As the Inspector has pointed out, in the case of C D Rowson LLA 1375/95 the Authority stated that an applicant’s failure to honestly answer questions regarding previous convictions weighed fairly heavily against an individual applicant being considered suitable to hold a General Manager’s Certificate.

[9] The criteria to be considered on the renewal of the General Manager’s Certificate are contained in s.126 of the Act. Included in these criteria are:

(a) The character and reputation of the applicant;

(b) Any convictions recorded against the applicant since the certificate was issued or last renewed;

[10] Although the two convictions themselves are relatively serious, they could be seen as isolated. In our opinion, they would normally not warrant the cancellation of a General Manager’s Certificate. Nor would they warrant the refusal to renew such a certificate, although it should be noted that the convictions were incurred during the first probationary year.

[11] In the absence of any explanation as to why the convictions were not disclosed, and in the absence of an appearance by Mr Karora, the inference is that he is no longer interested in pursuing the application for renewal.

[12] In his absence therefore, the Authority has no option other than to refuse the application for renewal. Having done so it seems that there needs to be no further action taken with regard to the cancellation application.

[13] There will be an order for refusal accordingly.

DATED at WELLINGTON this 2nd day of October 2003

Judge E W Unwin Mr J C Crookston
Chairman Member

Karora.doc(afw)