'I'm done with it' says former licence holder of Wellingborough pub at review after customer allegedly attacked with metal bat
Management of the Royal Oak in Doddington Road, Wellingborough, will be transferred to a new person after the designated premises supervisor left the pub following a licence review held this week.
Police had applied for a review of the pub’s licence after a man was allegedly attacked with a metal bat on Monday, December 10, 2025 and found in the car park with serious head injuries.
Another 60-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident and has since been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
The full review hearing was held at Swanspool House in Wellingborough on Monday (January 12).
PC David Bryan attended the hearing in a conference room at Swanspool House, where he said CCTV coverage inside the pub was ‘good enough for the purposes of this investigation.’
He said: “The quality certainly from the outside is very good. Inside, I have seen better, but it could be worse.”
CCTV in the pub lasts for 30 days before it is wiped.
Documents published ahead of this week’s North Northants Council licensing sub-committee meeting said it was believed that the ‘level of violence perpetrated at the premises is a serious crime and the ongoing non-compliance with conditions of the license presents a significant risk to members of the public visiting the premises’, meaning the premises licence was suspended prior to the hearing.
Tracy Shannon, who was the designated premises supervisor (DPS) and manager at the time of the incident, said at the hearing she was ‘done’ with the pub.
After the review hearing, the premises will be left in the hands of Kane Britten, a ‘punter’ who plans to hold the licence moving forward.
Although he has never taken on a pub before, Kane is keen to see the Royal Oak continue. He said: “It’s a community pub, there are people who rely on it.
"Nine out of 10 people who come through the door, I know well. It would be a shame to see it close, a lot of people rely on it being there day in and day out.
“I would be gutted for it to close.”
Police said at the hearing there was ‘nothing to suggest’ Britten couldn’t take on the licence, subject to the necessary checks needed to obtain the necessary licence and to install a new DPS.
While the process of the lease changing hands is ongoing, there is currently no set timeframe for the re-opening of the pub.