THE OWNER of an off licence in Swindon was ordered to go on a course to learn how to run his shop better after being caught selling smuggled alcohol.

A licensing panel hearing in the Civic Offices on Tuesday was held to review the premises licence for Em-Can Can, in Manchester Road, which is held by Bahram Jafari.

In a case jointly brought by Swindon Trading Standards and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) it was alleged that duty had not been paid on alcohol for sale in the store.

But after hearing that Mr Jafari was in the process of selling the shop, the panel decided not to revoke his licence but told him to enrol on a course within 12 weeks to learn how to run the premises better. If the shop is sold within 12 weeks he will not have to go on the course.

Officers from HMRC and the council visited the shop on April 29 last year and found 14 bottles of whisky and vodka with no duty stamps and four bottles of vodka with forged duty stamps on them.

Mr Jafari’s wife, Lynne Rigby, said her husband was in London and could not be contacted and claimed they had bought the business and stock from the previous owner.

But after writing to Mr Jafari the officers visited the shop again on February 2 this year and found 38 bottles of whisky, gin and Yeni Raki spirit with forged duty stamps and 43 bottles of wine being offered at ‘two for £5’.

The report said an aggravating factor was that on this visit an apparent attempt was made to conceal 24 bottles of spirits with forged duty stamps.

When the officers asked for invoices to be produced for the alcohol they did not comply with VAT requirements and were incomplete.

The invoices for the wine suggested the business was making a 50 per cent loss on each bottle too, which made officers suspicious about how a small business could sustain such a loss.

Head of licensing for the council, Lionel Starling, said: “The panel was satisfied that the business was changing hands and it was acknowledged all round that it had not been properly managed. This is not a one-off local issue, it’s a very widespread problem that affects lots of businesses.”