Not 'The Face', No. Try Lower Down...

The shop lost its licence once before under Tatlidede’s management in 2011 when trading standards officers found counterfeit wine and fake vodka.

But magistrates allowed the decision to be appealed and it started trading again after the penalty was reduced to a three-month suspension.

Well, that worked well...

Tipple, in Queen’s Road, Brighton, no longer has permission to sell alcohol, Brighton and Hove City Council’s licensing panel decided yesterday.

It follows an HMRC prosecution which saw the shop’s licence holder Koray Tatlidede, of Addison Road, Hove, plead guilty to deliberately and dishonestly suppressing sales, which reduced liability for payment of corporation tax on income.

He also admitted to evading VAT.

Naturally he is shocked, SHOCKED!, that anyone might think there was criminality going on:

The 32-year-old was visibly shaken at the hearing as he told the panel he only ever wanted to work hard, live a normal life and not to take part in criminal activity.

Well, that's possible. After all, millions do just that. It can't be hard...

He brought with him paperwork which he said attested to his good character.

A note from his mum..?

He said: “I have already been punished for this in court. I have to pay back money to the Government and I completed 150 hours of unpaid work.

“I am setting up a payment plan, but if I lose the licence I lose my business. How can I pay them back?”

He said he could not afford to bring solicitors to the meeting, adding: “I am a small business owner, me and my staff work really hard. I am there seven days a week and work between 10 and 12 hours a day – all through Christmas, new year and bank holidays for ten years. We are in an important location – I see us as the face of the city.”

Wrong body part, chum.