More conditions on Radcliffe snooker club licence after assault

Radcliffe Central Snooker Club’s licence was called to be reviewed by Bury Council’s licensing panel on Wednesday, April 8.

PC Peter Eccleston, GMP’s licensing officer, told the committee that police were called to reports of an assault at the club just before 3.10am on February 1.

He said the man was “conscious and breathing” when they got there and “thankfully, his injuries were relatively minor”.

The police launched an investigation into an assault causing actual bodily harm and said the club had provided CCTV “without delay”.

The footage shows the victim being punched in the face before he falls backwards and hits the floor.

However, PC Eccleston said it also “shows consuming alcohol and recently poured pints on the bar itself”.

The officer noted that the club’s licence holder, David Morley, had “without excuse, accepted responsibility”.

Mr Morley had told police that staff had been out on a “belated Christmas party” and lost track of time – but it was “not a regular occurrence”.

PC Eccleston backed up this claim, stating that in his almost four years as a licensing officer, the snooker club was “not somewhere” they would “normally get reports of incidents”.

He said: “Up to this point it was run relatively well, but considering that this incident happened the best part of nearly two hours over the allowed time on the licence, we felt as GMP we had to bring it to the attention of the licensing committee today.”

Cllr Mary Walsh, of Radcliffe East, said: “My concern is this chap was out for 16 seconds and beyond with a banged head, and it looked like he went down pretty hard.

“People who have banged their heads like that have been killed”.

The Radcliffe First councillor raised concerns that the assault was categorised as only ABH and said: “This downgrading of serious offences needs to stop”.

PC Eccleston said they measure offences on the level of injury and “in terms of the actual level of injury it was minor”.

Licensee Mr Morley told the committee that he’s run the club for just over nine years, but it has been there for 30 years, and has 500 members.

He called the club a “real hub for the community” but said: “Did we get complacent? We certainly did.”

Speaking about the man and his brother involved in the incident, he said: “They don’t deserve to be hit – but we do monitor them.

“We’ve asked them to leave a few times and, in fairness, they do. If I were aware of this situation breaking out earlier, I would have asked them to leave.

“We do serve alcohol, and these things happen occasionally, no matter how well the business is run – unfortunately for me, it happened over time, and that’s why we’re here.”

Radcliffe First Councillor Andrea Booth said that on the CCTV footage they were shown, “nobody went to help the victim” and asked if the staff had first-aid training.

Cllr Booth, of Radcliffe North and Ainsworth, said: “I think if you have any incident like that and there’s nobody with a first-aid qualification – it could go very, very, wrong.”

Mr Morley replied that they were all “in shock” when the incident happened and said: “Whatever the recommendations are, we’re going to accept that – we’ve got to move forward.”

Cllr Tahir Rafiq, head of the committee, said the business “has been running well for a while” without major issues.

Announcing their decision, he said they accepted all of GMP’s proposed added conditions – including that CCTV cameras be installed to cover all public areas, including entrances and exits, that incident logs lasting at least six months are made, and the club conducts more robust staff training.

Cllr Rafiq, a Labour councillor for Unsworth, said they would be adding additional conditions to the recommendations.

Under public safety, he said “at least one member of staff on the premises” should have a “recognised first-aid qualification” and, “if possible”, all should have basic first-aid training.

A risk assessment or review must be taken within 28 days, if one doesn’t exist, and health and safety and safeguarding policies should also be created in the same timeframe.