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From the
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk By Jamie Bennett-Ness, 19th August 2021.
Met Police: Greenwich pub could lose licence after stabbing.
A pub in Greenwich faces losing its licence after the Met Police
applied to close the establishment after a 'very serious' stabbing
took place inside its premises earlier this month.
Metropolitan Police have levelled a number of claims and applied to
have the Star and Garter's license suspended due to its association
with serious crime and disorder after a man was stabbed at the
premise on August 1.
Police reported that the suspected attacker had been permitted to
use the toilet before leaving the pub, located on Old Woolwich Road,
and a lack of control and the absence of proper management meant it
should close.
No working CCTV was in operation at the pub at the time, and the
victim currently remains in hospital.
Met Police also complained that no one called them after the
stabbing incident, officers were only informed by colleagues at the
London Ambulance Service, and only one witness inside the premises
actually spoke to them.
Greenwich Council received a 'Summary Review application' from the
Metropolitan Police at 8:15am on August 4 over claims the south east
London public house was associated with serious crime, serious
disorder or both.
However, the licence holders have denied polices claims, disputing
claims that the pub was linked to the violence of that they had not
allowed the attacker to use the bathroom as they appealed against
the licence suspension.
Rita Hall said she heard about the incident when one of her staff
phoned her on August 1, and the staff on duty said they did not see
what happened as "there was no fight and no disturbance to attract
their attention."
"The first they were aware of the incident was when the victim went
to the toilets because he was bleeding," and she added that they did
not know who the attacker was so had therefore not refused to name
that person to police.
In her response, the partner of the licence review said this was the
first incident in 21 years, and that closing the pub to conduct a
review "may possible lead to the permanent closure, with the
resultant loss of an important local amenity."
She described The Star and Garter as a small community pub and said
this was the first time there had been any trouble, "therefore this
is likely a one-off incident and does not signify a lack of proper
management, a lack of control or allowing public nuisance."
Greenwich Council received a 'Summary Review application' from the
Metropolitan Police at 8:15am on August 4 over claims the premise
were associated with serious crime, serious disorder or both.
The application was handed to the owners on August 5 and a notice of
the review was displayed at the premises and at Woolwich Town Hall,
plus 250 letters to businesses and residencies were sent over within
a 100-metre radius of the pub.
The Review Committee then agreed that the suspension of the
premise's licence was appropriate, but on August 12 Rita Hall stated
that she wished to make a representation against these steps to
suspend the license.
Greenwich Council's Review Committee had said a "very serious
stabbing had taken place inside" which was not reported to police by
the licence holder, and that the licence holder had refused to
identify the perpetrator to police, despite barring him from the
pub.
"The LSC view the failure to call the police and absence of
co-operation by the premises licence holder, who is also the
designated premises supervisor, and staff at the premises, with
extreme concern.
"The perpetrator is a known regular customer of the premises," the
council added, and despite the bar being busy, only one customer
provided officers with any information, with all other customers
"all inexplicably not seeing anything."
The verdict said: "The LSC noted with concern the general absence of
proper management, and lack of control, of the premises with
customers allowed to cause public nuisance within a residential
area."
The LSC suspend the premises licence until the full review hearing,
and consider it appropriate to promote the licensing objectives and
to prevent further serious violence”
The appeal against the licence suspension has been heard but no
verdict has yet been published.
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