A shop outside which a teenager was stabbed following a row over the price of a drink has been told to “get its house in order”.

Newham Recorder: Police are appealing for help in tracing Halil Ates. Picture: Met PolicePolice are appealing for help in tracing Halil Ates. Picture: Met Police (Image: Met Police)

Officers found a man with a stab wound after being called to the International Food Centre in Barking Road, Plaistow, at 11.19pm on April 27.

The 19-year-old told police he was trying to buy a drink priced at £1.40 but an argument erupted after a shop assistant charged him 60p more.

The customer was then stabbed in the abdomen with a 4cm-long salad knife before the suspect fled.

The victim's injuries were described by police as not life-changing or life-threatening.

As the police dealt with the stabbing, a relative of the victim and another staff member were seen fighting.

The stabbing triggered a manhunt with police appealing for help finding 41-year old Turkish national Halil Ates wanted on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

At a meeting of Newham Council's licensing sub-committee on Thursday, August 15, councillors agreed to suspend the shop's alcohol licence.

Cllr Neil Wilson, chairman of the sub-committee, said: "This was a very serious incident.

"We take any breaches of licence conditions and the licensing objectives extremely seriously and we have therefore decided to suspend the shop's licence to sell alcohol for five weeks to allow the owners to get their house in order."

He added the owners would have to improve staff training, commit to reporting any crime to the police and introduce adequate, well-maintained and properly operated CCTV.

"Most businesses in Newham are run in a compliant, responsible and safe manner and this committee is determined to make sure that all are playing by the rules," Cllr Wilson said.

Four staff members failed to co-operate with officers after they requested access to the shop's CCTV, police documents show.

Officer seized the footage but it failed to show the attack while a second CCTV system in the shop's ceiling had been tampered with.

Police wanted the council to revoke the licence or suspend it for three months. The shop owners have 21 days to appeal before the five-week suspension begins.