At the Wakefield West Riding Court, application was made for the temporary transfer of the licence of the United Kingdom Hotel, from George Ayres to Thomas Holmes.
Mr J Burrows Solicitor, supported the application, and told the bench that Holmes had a conviction against him for an offence of a licensing nature earlier this year whilst he was at the Spring Close Tavern, Leeds. That house, said Mr Burrows, was in a rough quarter and was not an easy one to manage, but during nearly eight years stay he had brought that house to an excellent standard. The conviction was due to his wife supplying four bottles of beer to men to take out at 10:22pm on a busy night, when she had no idea it was so late.
The proprietors of the United Kingdom (Whittaker’s Brewery Company) knew the whole of the circumstances of the case, and, knowing the applicant, where quite prepared to entrust him with the licence and give him an opportunity to return to the trade, if the Bench saw fit to grant him the licence – the police opposed the application as the ground of the previous conviction, however their report added, “ With the exception of the above mentioned facts there is no reason why it should not be granted”.
The Chairman (Mr G Butler) said the Bench were of the opinion that the man, having paid the penalty should not be prevented from having another chance. It was very good of the brewery company to support this man.