Community backs shop
Published 25 Aug 2011 09:30
A COMMUNITY has shown its support for a shopkeeper who assaulted a thief that stole from his shop.
Anil Kumar Randev punched the woman in the head and kicked her in the body twice outside his Duntocher shop after she had verbally abused him in his store and made off with a sandwich and pasta meal.
After pleading guilty to the assault in Dumbarton Sheriff Court on June 10 Randev was given a deferred sentence of 12 months.
West Dunbartonshire Licensing Board then ordered that no alcohol could be sold from his shop for 12 months as a consequence of his actions.
Last week 117 letters of support from Duntocher residents and two character references were brought to the latest Licensing Board meeting at which Randev appeared.
The board members had to decide whether to administer further action against Randev by suspending his personal licence to sell alcohol, having already banned him from selling booze in his shop.
Represented by different counsel from the last board appearance, Randev's solicitor said - according to his client - his previous lawyer "did not adequately represent the full mitigating factors".
The solicitor said eye witness accounts of the assault taken by police did not tell the true story of the attack as they had not seen the woman kick, "lunge" at, and strike Randev initially.
At the board meeting a written statement backing up this version of events from an eye witness who came forward after an article appeared in the Clydebank Post was read out.
The initial witness accounts only described Mr Randev assaulting the woman.
After the incident the woman returned to the store immediately and knocked over a cake stand - she never came forward to the police following the incident.
The solicitor also read out four of the Duntocher residents' letters of support for Randev which described him as an "honest", "pleasant" and "trustworthy" member of society.
Councillor Geoff Calvert said: "We are not here to review the case - the court has accepted the charge - there was an assault and Mr Randev pleaded guilty and was found guilty, whatever the other circumstances you can't agree on. Having got to that stage and having dealt with the issue over the premises, the question now is the personal licence - whether or not Mr Randev having demonstrated violence is a person you are comfortable with [selling alcohol]."
Mr Randev's personal licence was endorsed at the board meeting, which means he can sell alcohol, although not in his own shop.
In court on June 10 it was intimated that if Mr Randev stays out of bother in the next 12 months he would likely be admonished.
This article appeared in Clydebank Post 25 Aug 11
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