Dalley [2003] NZLLA 900 (26 November 2003)

Last Updated: 25 January 2012

Decision No. PH 900/2003

IN THE MATTER of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989

AND

IN THE MATTER of an application by DANIEL EELKE HENRY DALLEY pursuant to s.118 of the Act for a General Manager’s Certificate

BEFORE THE LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY

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

HEARING at TAURANGA on 17 November 2003

APPEARANCES

Mr D E H Dalley - applicant
Mr M V Martin - Western Bay of Plenty District Licensing Agency Inspector

- in opposition

Constable L N Freeman - NZ Police - in opposition

ORAL DECISION OF THE AUTHORITY

[1] Before the Authority is an application by Daniel Eelke Henry Dalley for a General Manager’s Certificate. Mr Dalley fulfils to a large extent the majority of the criteria to which the Authority must have regard in considering such an application.

[2] At the time he made an application for a General Manager’s Certificate in March 2003, Mr Dalley had been employed as a barman at “The Boohi Bar” in Katikati. He had worked there for some 12 months. He had the written support of the owner of that licensed premises. The premises are regarded as good traders both by the Police and the District Licensing Agency Inspector. Put in a reverse way, there have been no major problems with those premises.

[3] Mr Dalley had completed a course with Liquor Licensing Consultants 2000 Limited. Mr Dalley had been questioned by the District Licensing Agency Inspector and was found to have a competent knowledge of the Sale of Liquor Act, and the responsibilities of management.

[4] In his application Mr Dalley was asked whether he had previous convictions. He wrote under “nature of offence” - traffic offence, he wrote the date 21 February 2002, and he wrote that he was fined and lost his licence for three months. Mr Dalley has been known for a number of years by the local Constable. Mr Dalley was originally with a boy-racing crowd and had two reasonably historical traffic convictions.

[5] On 21 February 2003, Mr Dalley was involved with a crowd who were taking methamphetamine known commonly as “P”. He was in Blenheim with his associates. With the aid of a motor vehicle, they were purchasing precursors for the manufacture of methamphetamine. This is known as pseudoephedrine.

[6] Mr Dalley was arrested along with his co-offenders on that day, and the following day he appeared in the Blenheim District Court where was fined $700.00, and disqualified for three months. He has one other conviction which is for driving while disqualified on 7 August 2002.

[7] On the one hand Mr Dalley fulfils the majority of the criteria. On the other, there was concern by the Police that he had mis-stated his convictions. The omission raised doubts about his general suitability, apart from the recent convictions themselves. Mr Dalley has explained that he was not quite certain what a precursor substance was, and that in the main, he had written in what he thought had happened to him in Blenheim.

[8] Mr Dalley has acknowledged that he got in with the wrong crowd, and that friends of his had bad experiences with the drug. He has come back to Katikati to stay away from those people involved with the drug, and to stay away from the drug itself. He says that he has no issue with the taking of drugs. In other words there was no suggestion of use or misuse. However that is all self-reporting. There is yet another aspect to the application which is also of some concern.

[9] Mr Dalley left “The Boohi Bar” licensed premises about a month ago, and now works in the building industry. He says that if granted a General Manager’s Certificate, he would like to work on a part time basis as a General Manager for “The Boohi Bar”. His employer is not able to be present today.

[10] In Osborne LLA 2388/95, the Authority laid out a general framework in which it stated that a five year stand down period might be appropriate where there is serious offending to enable an applicant to show that they have learned the error of their ways. In this instance there is no suggestion of liquor abuse although there is concern about drug taking generally.

[11] It is the Authority’s view that this matter should be stood down for between six and nine months. In nine months time the latest conviction for driving while disqualified will have been entered three years previously, and there will have been a gap of two and a half years from the offending in Blenheim.

[12] Rather than decline the application altogether, we are prepared to adjourn it to see whether Mr Dalley can satisfy the Police in particular, and the Inspector, that there are no other issues with drug taking. For Mr Dalley to establish that, there would have to be confirmation from his parents although we would prefer to hear from an individual professional source if that is possible. Mr Dalley also gets the opportunity during that time to establish clearly that he has potential work in the industry. We are not prepared to grant any application on the basis of a possible involvement in the industry. If Mr Dalley can confirm through his potential employer that employment is likely if not guaranteed, then we may well be prepared to grant the application on the papers.

[13] In summary therefore, this matter is adjourned for a period of six to nine months to between May and August 2004. During that time if Mr Dalley is able to satisfy the reporting Authorities that there is no long term or even casual drug involvement, and that he has employment available to him in the industry, then we would be prepared to grant the application on the papers.

[14] If Mr Dalley is not able to persuade the reporting Authorities in this way, then the matter will have to be set down for a further hearing.

[15] The case is adjourned accordingly.

DATED at WELLINGTON this 26th day of November 2003

Judge E W Unwin Mr J C Crookston
Chairman Member

Dalley Daniel.doc(afw)