Licensee escapes jail

A licensee who admitted allowing alcohol to be sold to underage drinkers in his Guildford pub was spared jail today.

Paul Gibbens, 24, had been warned to expect a custodial sentence but magistrates opted for a community punishment after hearing about his troubles.

Gibbens told Guildford Magistrates he was £28,000 in debt after taking on a pub aged just 23 and said at the time he offended he was drinking 45 pints a week to escape his troubles.

He said he had now reduced that figure to 22 pints a week.

His problems began when he was in charge of the Forresters Arms in Guildford and was caught allowing alcohol to be sold to minors by licensing officials.

On investigation it was discovered that although the Forresters Arms had a premises licence Gibbens did not hold a personal licence after falling out with his solicitor when applying.

He pleaded guilty to charges of allowing the sale of alcohol to minors and charges of operating licensable acts without a licence.

Sentencing Gibbens, chairman of the bench Mrs P L Privett said she was relieved he had chosen to leave the licensed trade and planned to become an estate agent from Monday.

She added: "These matters are very, very serious and the previous court asked for us to look at a custodial sentence. We've thought very hard about this but we've decided not to send you to prison today.​

"We believe you were young, naive and certainly stupid. We are very grateful you are no longer involved in the licensed trade."

Magistrates imposed an 18-month supervision order to help Gibbens overcome his drinking and arrange his finances and added 100 hours community service to the 100 hours he is already serving for Health and Safety breaches at the pub.

He was also ordered to pay £70 costs on top of the £3,000 health and safety fine issued just weeks ago.