Identity of Ipswich shopkeeper of Special Food Store, in St Helen’s Street, believed to be ‘a front’ as council set to review licence

A council suspects the identity of an Ipswich shop keeper could be ‘a front’ ahead of a licence review.

On Friday, Ipswich Borough Council is set to discuss Special Food Store, in St Helen’s Street, over fears it could be involved in crime and disorder alongside multiple breaches of licensing conditions.

Special Food Store’s licence has been held by Saman Rashid since January 10, 2019.

The previous holder had his licence revoked after a large amount of illegal tobacco was found on site, which was then known as Sidney Mini Mart.

Debbie Devine, a licensing officer, believes Mr Rashid is not involved in running the store at all.

In November that year, Mr Rashid was sent a letter after multiple licensing breaches. In January 2021, officers asked him to confirm his involvement with the business.

Since then, two more letters have been sent and police have visited the premises multiple times, with Mr Rashid never being present, Ms Devine said.

According to a report submitted to Ipswich’s licensing and regulatory committee, Ms Devine believes Mr Rashid is being used ‘as a front’ for Emdad and Didar Hoshyar.

Mr Rashid was said to have stopped being the designated premises supervisor on October 12, 2024, the report said.

On October 16, an application was made by Mr Rashid to change the premises supervisor.

On December 9, the authority received a call from a man who said he was Mr Rashid, asking for a replacement personal licence badge, Ms Devine said.

Due to the team having spent years trying to get in touch, he was directed to collect the badge from Grafton House.

When he arrived, a licensing officer asked for identification, which the man claimed to not have on him.

He then asked if he could leave for 30 minutes to collect his ID, later asking if he could email the documents instead, the report said.

According to Ms Devine, Emdad Hashyar admitted to being the person who asked for the badge and the one who turned up to collect it.

Officers visited Mr Rashid’s home address three days later to find a woman living there.

She told them she had never heard of Mr Rashid, while another resident, who had lived in a nearby flat for 11 years, also told them they’d never heard of him.

Ms Devine’s report concluded: “It is believed that Mr Rashid is not involved in the running of the premises at all. He does not live at the address licensing holds for him, the telephone number and email address for Mr Rashid are actually those of Emdad Hoshyar.

“It is believed that Mr Rashid is a front for both Didar Hoshyar and Emdad Hoshyar.

“Further, the premises is operating other than in accordance with the licence as numbers 12 and 14 St Helen’s Street were knocked through into one premises, the plan attached to the premises licence is not current and despite being advised to apply for a minor variation to change the plan, no such application has been received.”