Taj licence shock as illegal workers are nabbed

Oct 9 2009

ONE of Ayrshire best known Indian restaurants has lost its licence.

The move follows claims that the popular Taj in Prestwick employed illegal immigrants.

South Ayrshire’s licensing board suspended the licence after hearing from police.

They claimed that they found two workers who couldn’t speak English when they arrived unannounced at the restaurant in the early hours of the morning.

They also claimed that they discovered a woman so drunk she was virtually comatose and a man in a similar state still clutching a drink.

Chief superintendent Bill Fitzpatrick explained that Inspector Bob Smith and another officer turned up at the restaurant at 1.35am on June 28.

They spotted the woman, who appeared drunk, asleep on a bench near the window.

A group of around 10 men were sitting at the far end of the restaurant and another man was sleeping in a chair with a glass of alcohol still in his hand.

Mr Fitzpatrick told the committee that Jagjeet Singh Uppal appeared to be in charge. His wife, Manrup, who is the licensee, was not on duty.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: “Inspector Smith asked who the people were and was told that they were staff and the drunk male was a customer.

“They were asked their names, dates of birth, place of residence and for passports and work visas.

“The vast majority managed this. However, language was a problem and Mr Uppal was either unwilling or unable to help. Two of the men were unable to provide their names and dates of birth.”

Both men were taken to a flat in Boyd Street, Prestwick, where they told police they were living. The premises is one used as staff accommodation by the Taj.

With the aid of an elderly neighbour, who helped to interpret, one man admitted that he had no passport and had come into the UK in the back of a lorry via Dover.

The second man did have a passport and a work visa for a two month holiday. However, he was wanted for absconding from the UK Border Agency in Manchester earlier this year.

When they were later interviewed by immigration officials the man who had come into the country in the back of a lorry admitted that he had worked at the Taj as a dishwasher for four days.

The second man insisted that he was not working but simply visiting friends.

Both men were later deported.

Mr Fitzpatrick went on to claim that Mr Uppal was clearly in charge at the time of the visit, even though his application for a personal licence had been earlier rejected.

He also pointed out that Mr Uppal is currently the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal in connection with an assault which allegedly occurred on the premises in August last year.

However, solicitor Graeme McKinstry acting for Mrs Uppal, insisted that only one of the two men was on the premises at the time of the police visit and he was visiting a relative.

He said he had a sworn affidavit from the head chef at the restaurant who confirmed that the man was a relative.

Mr McKinstry went on to claim that neither man had stayed in the staff accommodation, even though police found keys to the premises in their pockets.

He also told the committee that his client denied that the drunk woman was inside the restaurant and insisted that the man police saw sleeping with a drink in his hand was in fact upright in a chair sipping Coca Cola while waiting on his takeaway.

The committee however found against the restaurant and suspended the Taj’s drinks licence for two weeks from October 1.