Booze, brawls and blood: 'Most problematic pub in Sandwell' ordered to cut hours
A troubled pub has been ordered to tighten security after police said it has become a hotbed for crime and disorder over the last two years.
Officers were called to 35 incidents at The Knights Quest in Blackheath High Street, including 'mass disorder' which saw a man knocked unconscious when his head was stamped on during a brawl in the road outside the pub.
West Midlands Police moved to take action against the venue over concerns young people were 'drinking to excess' into the early hours, often sparking violence.
It must now close an hour earlier on Friday and Saturday nights, install more CCTV and have door staff wearing body cameras on duty from 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Knights Quest was described as the 'most problematic' pub in Sandwell and was being monitored on a police watchlist.
Ambulances were called to the Marston's pub 12 times in the year to April 2017, 10 of those resulting in someone being taken to A&E.
Violence in March involving '20 or 30' people, when the man was attacked and left unconscious having left the Knights Quest, proved the final straw for the force which ordered a review of the licence.
Police licensing officer Mick Boyd told a Sandwell Council hearing there had been incidents inside and outside the pub and that police had been called more times to The Knights Quest than eight other pubs in the area combined.
He said the number of officers sent to the pub since 2015 was equivalent to that which would police a 'Premiership football match'.
Mr Boyd said: "The Knights Quest has been a focal point for crime and disorder and antisocial behaviour over the last 19 months involving persons subject to assaults and wounding inside and outside the premises.
"It is the most problematic licensed premises in Sandwell. Young people are drinking to excess into the early hours and there is a failure and reluctance on staff to report incidents.
"When they leave troublesome customers are no longer seen as the responsibility of the Knights Quest."
He added: "West Midlands Police is of the opinion it is only a matter of time before an incident occurs where the victim does not walk away from it as easily as they have done so far."
CCTV footage was played at the hearing showing the aftermath of the March attack as a man was put in the back of a police van as the bloodied victim walked past in the road.
Sandwell Council's licensing panel was asked to consider removing the landlord Thomas Lloyd and suspend the licence for three months so new management could be arranged, but decided against this.
But they did cut the opening hours to 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays. It has previously been allowed to stay open until 2.30am, which police said meant young people could drink for longer, with a greater likelihood of trouble.
Ben Williams, a lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Lloyd, who has run the pub with his wife for 14 years, argued changing the running of the pub would have made the situation worse.
He said problems had only started over the last couple of years and that it had previously been trouble free.
He said: "They have been there a heck of a long time. The problems are more recent.
"A lot of good has been done. More recently perhaps it is not as it ought to have been but it can get back to that."
Michelle Hazelwood, representing Marston's, said the pub had operated well but needed 'a little bit of guidance at this time'.
She added: "This site is not a fundamental broken premises and operation."
