Licensing hearing called after man stabbed was among 19 crimes at Northampton pub

In a submitted application to Northampton Borough Council, PC Chris Stevens outlines the reason the Bantam Cock pub of Abington Square should have its premises license reviewed by the sub-committee.

He states: “The most recent incident that has caused this review to be triggered was a stabbing which took place on April 1, 2017 at about 5.40am.

“In the lead-up to the incident, the victim reported that the group involved were inside and had caused five-six fights throughout the course of the night.

“The victim was stabbed twice, once in the chest and once in the back, this has led to him sustaining a punctured lung and needing surgery, including a chest drain.”

These incidents are still subject to a live police investigation and CCTV footage will be available for the committee to review on Tuesday, May 23.

There have also been questions over the degree of control exercised by door staff.

PC Stevens noted that upon asking to look at the conditions of the premises licence and the Bantam Cock’s incident book, there was a “lack of compliance when it came to what was being recorded.”

He said there was very little detail in the incident reports themselves and this constituted a breach of the pub’s licence.

He added: “There is a clear pattern that the vast majority of the incidents are taking place in the early morning after 3am.”

Police would like the committee to consider numerous options at the licencing hearing, which include reducing the closing time of the premises to 3am, using an updated CCTV system and having at least three doormen on duty at all times in high-visibility jackets.

Responding to an action plan outlined by PC Stevens on February 21, Ciaran Shanahan of the Trust Inns - premises licence holders of the Bantam Cock - had written: “With regards to incident reporting, the majority of incidents have been recorded in our register - ‘the majority’ obviously not being good enough as all incidents should be recorded.

Also it is agreed that although the main basics had been inputted, the amount of detail in the reports needed to be improved upon. The new door team have been told about this.”