Council / Alcohol licence endorsed after assault conviction
A MAN who used to work in the hotel trade in Shetland has kept his personal licence for selling alcohol after admitting an assault charge earlier this year.
Angus Duncan was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation by a sheriff court in Glasgow for pushing a staff member in a hotel in the city in April.
The matter came before Shetland’s licensing board on Monday because police considered that, as personal licence holder, Duncan “acted in a manner inconsistent with the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder and securing public safety”.
However councillors on the licensing board agreed with Duncan’s view that the offence was a “one-off” and endorsed his licence.
This means that it is not suspended or revoked, but any further endorsements could result in a more severe punishment.
The case came before the board, despite Duncan moving away to Inverness three years ago, because the licence was granted in Shetland.
A report from the police said Duncan arrived in Glasgow on 24 April to attend a concert in the city, staying in a hotel overnight.
Duncan told Monday’s meeting at Lerwick Town Hall that he went to Glasgow with his daughter, with the pair leaving the concert early as she suffered a panic attack.
He said they had a bit of an argument, with Duncan adding that the woman later came back into the hotel room with a man he did not recognise.
The man was a hotel worker, and Duncan pushed him over – causing him to trip, fall and cut his head.
The hotel worker was taken to hospital and had staples to close a four centimetre superficial wound to his scalp, the police report said.
Duncan said it was “obviously very out of character – I’m 55 years old, I’ve never been in trouble with the law before”.
He added he had no intention to hurt the man and had asked in court to formally apologise to him.
Duncan, who worked in Shetland for 12 years at Brudolff Hotels, admitted he failed to tell the licensing board about his conviction.
Shetland Central councillor Moraig Lyall moved that the board endorse the licence.
“It does appear to be very much a one-off incident and it seems to me that that would be proportionate,” she said.
“I recognise that this is a serious offence, I think he recognises that too. But I feel that an endorsement at this stage would be an appropriate way to handle this.”
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