Slough Indian restaurant loses alcohol licence after immigration raid

An Indian restaurant in Slough which was caught employing illegal workers has had its alcohol licence revoked.

Exotic Sweet Centre Limited, which trades as Exotic Karahi in Farnham Road, was visited by immigration officers on September 5 last year, where three individuals were identified as immigration offenders.

When interviewed, all three workers reported receiving free food in exchange for their labour – which could have amounted to ‘modern-day slavery’, a meeting heard this week.

In November last year, the business received a £90,000 civil penalty for employing two people who did not have the right to work in the UK.

In June, the Home Office requested a review of the business’ premises licence on the grounds that ‘prevention of crime and disorder’ conditions had not been met. Thames Valley Police also supports this view.

The Home Office said the licence holder and management had failed to conduct mandatory employment checks to prevent illegal working.

All businesses need to apply for a premises licence to their council to be allowed to sell alcohol.

The conditions of a licence include ensuring public safety, preventing public nuisance, preventing crime and disorder and protecting children.

At a meeting on Tuesday (July 29) at Observatory House, councillors on a licensing sub-committee voted to revoke the licence.

Discussing the September visit, Caroline Laird, a Home Office immigration enforcement officer, told the meeting: “They [the workers] were paid by way of food, which, obviously is also a way of going unnoticed and promoting working for nothing really, as they don’t have any other means of gaining lawful employment in the UK."

The sub-chair of the committee, Cllr Mohammed Nazir asked: “In other words, they could have been constituted as slave labour?”

Ms Laird replied: “Yes, modern-day slavery.”

During the raid, one woman who was found in the restaurant’s kitchen told officers she was allowed to use it to cook for herself because she did not ‘have the floor at home’.

Discussing the reasons for the raid, Ms Laird said: “Immigration enforcement don’t just drive around looking for businesses to target.

“There have to be significant concerns for us to action incoming intelligence."

She added: “When you’re employing illegal workers, you’re not doing any checks on the people that you’re employing illegally. So how do you know whether or not they are ok to be around children or the public? You could be putting members of the public or children at risk that way.”

Speaking at the meeting, owner Inderpaul Roa said he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and was recovering at the time of the raid.

Mr Rao said: “I was literally paralysed and so I was in hospital. This sort of happened over night.

“It took about a year and a half to recover so I had to be taught to talk again, walk again. They [the doctors] had to even teach me how to eat.”

He said a manager was hired during this time, who was also responsible for hiring workers and overseeing their immigration status. The manager was fired following the case.

Surendra Panchal, the legal representative of owner Mr Rao and his son Deep Singh Rao, said: “We are not running away from the mistake that was caused at the premises.

“We have explained to you why those mistakes were happening, and we’ve learned a lesson from it.”

Approximately 30 per cent of the money the business makes comes from alcohol sales.

He added: “The business would then not be able to pay its dues to the immigration office, the business would have to close and that would be a loss to the local community.”

But Rachel Rumney, the senior licensing team leader, clarified that the restaurant would still be able to sell food and soft drinks until 11pm despite the revoked license.

Cllr Nazir noted that many businesses on Farnham Road do not have a premises licence but are still very profitable.

He believed the owners ‘did not learn any lesson’ because a similar incident took place in 2013, when one person was arrested for overstaying a visa.

He added: “I think you’re the only one of the few licensed premises, there aren’t many there. Farnham Road is thriving without any licences because it’s renowned in the South East to be a place to go and eat.

“So, this thing that ‘we would lose business’ I don’t buy it because I think you’d probably do better without the licence.”