Lancaster v Grant [2012] NZLLA 288 (19 March 2012)

Last Updated: 29 March 2012

[2012] NZLLA PH 288

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 suspension or cancellation of General Manager's Certificate number GM/060/930/2008 issued to LISA MARIE GRANT

BETWEEN KERRY RUTH LANCASTER

(Police Officer of Christchurch)

Applicant

AND LISA MARIE GRANT

Respondent

BEFORE THE LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY

Quorum: Ms J D Moorhead
Mr P M McHaffie

HEARING at CHRISTCHURCH on 13 March 2012

APPEARANCES

Constable S J Joy – NZ Police – applicant
No appearance by or on behalf of respondent
Miss F A Proudfoot – Christchurch District Licensing Agency Inspector – to assist

DECISION OF THE AUTHORITY

[1] This is an application by Kerry Ruth Lancaster of the Christchurch Police for the suspension or cancellation of the General Manager's Certificate issued to Lisa Marie Grant.

[2] The grounds for the application are that the conduct of the manager is such as to show that she is not a suitable person to hold the certificate. In particular it was alleged that Ms Grant has incurred a conviction for driving with an excess breath alcohol level.

[3] Sergeant Alastair Lawn gave evidence by way of formal proof there being no appearance by Ms Grant. The evidence is that on 17 April 2011 Ms Grant was stopped by Police and an evidential breath test returned a positive result of 782 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. She was convicted in the Christchurch District Court on 9 August 2011.

[4] Ms Grant had previously utilised the certificate at the “Iconic” which collapsed catastrophically in the Christchurch earthquake. While we understand that Ms Grant may not be currently working in the industry we note that the certificate is due to expire on 10 December 2012 in any event.

[5] We believe it would be too draconian to cancel the certificate in the circumstances and accordingly propose to suspend the certificate for a period of four weeks commencing on Monday 16 April 2012. If in fact she is no longer intending to work in the industry we would not expect an application for renewal to be made. It is well known that we expect the certificate to be a working document.

[6] Accordingly General Manager's Certificate GM/060/930/2008 issued to Lisa Marie Grant is suspended for four weeks commencing on Monday 16 April 2012.

DATED at WELLINGTON this 19TH day of March 2012

B M Holmes
Secretary

Lisa Marie Grant.doc(aw)