Licensing chiefs shut town centre nightclub

TOWN Hall licensing chiefs at Warrington have suspended the licence of a town centre centre nightclub – meaning it must temporarily close.
Members of the borough council’s licensing committee made the decision after police had applied for a summary review of the Identity club in Bridge Street on the grounds it is associated with serious disorder.
The application followed an incident at the premises in which a man was alleged to have been punched and knocked to the floor and then kicked about the head.
As a result he sustained a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a fractured jaw.
He was taken to the Walton Neurological Unit at Liverpool where he had still not recovered consciousness when he was placed in an induced coma.
The incident was in the early hours of Sunday, October 22 and the victim has still not been able to give an account of what happened to him, the committee told
Councillors could have dealt with the police application in several ways, including modifying the premises licence, banning the sale of alcohol on the premises or removing the designated premises supervisor.
But they chose to suspend the licence – temporarily closing the premises until the summary review has been carried out – probably in about a month’s time..
Police said they were called to Bridge Street at about 02.29 on Sunday, October 22 to reports of fighting outside the bar.
Inside they found a man lying unconscious on the floor with blood coming from his ears and nose. He was being tended by an off-duty nurse and firefighter.
Officers and medical staff present were concerned that the injuries could be life threatening.
When officers asked to view CCTV it was found staff could not operate the system and officers seized the hard drive to attempt to retrieve images at a later date.
One member of staff was argumentative and un-co-operative. Another, in a statement, said he had carried on serving customers “seeing as behaviour like this was not unusual.”
The town link radio system could not be used to report the assault as it was inoperative – despite the radio link being a condition of the premises licence.
Councillors were told the premises had been closed previously when it operated under a different name.