Sayers bid to sell wine and hot toddies in Newcastle…

Sayers bid to sell wine and hot toddies in Newcastle city centre rejected over public safety fears

The son of John Henry Sayers has lost a bid to sell wine and hot toddies on Newcastle’s main shopping street.

Councillors have rejected plans from John Henry Sayers Jr, whose father is the notorious Tyneside hardman, to serve alcohol from his city centre food kiosk on Northumberland Street. It comes after police had alleged that the proposal would leave the Saye’s To Go stall “vulnerable to serious organised crime” and may have been an attempt for the well-known family to gain “legitimacy”.

At a Newcastle City Council licensing hearing last week, it was claimed that Mr Sayers Jr was being “unfairly treated” by city authorities and that it would be “wholly wrong” to deny him an alcohol permit on the basis of his father’s history in the city’s criminal underworld. But decision-makers have now announced that they have refused the application, over concerns that it could cause nuisance and compromise public safety in one of the busiest parts of Newcastle.

In a statement released on Friday, the council’s licensing sub-committee said its members were “not satisfied” that Mr Sayers Jr had proved that the proposal would not have a negative impact on the area. It added: “Committee also found the evidence of [council environmental health expert] Angela Wallis to be compelling regarding the potential for public nuisance and for the compromise of public safety were the application to be granted.”

At last week’s hearing, barrister Jeremy Barton had argued that Mr Sayers Jr was being treated unfairly and that a recent arson attack on the kiosk was being used against him. He told the committee that his client planned to sell spirits, wine, mulled wine, and hot toddies from the stall, but that it would not sell beer and was designed for high street shoppers to enjoy a tipple rather than being a “Mecca” for drinkers.

He called the proposed booze offer “microscopic” compared to the bars currently operating at the city’s Christmas markets. Mr Barton added: “It is not designed to be cool. It is somewhere you expect the more mature customer will enjoy a tipple and a drink as they walk the high street. For those reasons, I struggle to see why such extreme comments are being used in relation to what I submit is a pretty simple offering.”

Northumbria Police’s Chief Inspector David Wheeler wrote to the council to say that any involvement of Mr Sayers Sr in the kiosk would “potentially expose or render such premises (and those who work on or have an involvement in the same) vulnerable to serious organised crime occurring on or in connection with the premises”.

Mr Sayers Sr was jailed in 2018 after being convicted of perverting the course of justice by getting convicted killer Michael McDougall to falsely confess to a drive-by shooting outside the Tup Tup nightclub. An investigation was also launched this summer after an attack on his home in Byker.

CI Wheeler said: “I have concerns that the real purpose of the application is to gauge the Responsible Authorities position and/or to seek to obtain a premises licence and the legitimacy this could potentially lend to the business activities of the Sayers family/any further licensing applications.”

The police’s barrister, James Kemp, added argeud that the Christmas market is a “carefully managed exercise” and not a fair comparison, calling the Saye’s to Go plan “bland” and arguing that it “can’t get away” from problems arising from its location at such a busy spot. City council licensing boss Jonathan Bryce called the plan “ill thought out” and claimed it gave little regard to council policy, while Ms Wallis agreed that selling alcohol on the street all year round was “not appropriate” for that section of Northumberland Street.

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