Wolverhampton venue’s licence to be reviewed over XL bully show as ‘vendetta’ row with police continues

The Hangar in Pountney Street, Wolverhampton, could lose its licence after hosting ‘Best of Bullies’ events last summer that ignored stricter laws and allowed the banned and dangerous dogs to be unmuzzled in public and near children.

West Midlands Police said it had “serious concerns” over the venue’s ability to protect the public. The venue has accused police of holding a “personal agenda and vendetta.”

The authority’s licensing committee meets on March 6 after January’s hearing was postponed.

New laws brought in last February following a rise in attacks and deaths, added XL bullies to the list of banned dogs making it a criminal offence to own them without an exemption certificate.

This required the dog to be chipped, neutered and insured but also meant XL bullies had to be muzzled and on a lead in public places at all times.

The call for review by West Midlands Police said: “This event had the prohibited breed of XL bullies in attendance, and as per the highly publicised legislation there are strict rules governing these dogs, particularly whilst in public.

“One of these laws is that all XL bullies are required to be muzzled when in public. At this public and family event […] there were XL bullies not muzzled. Even more concerning, there were unmuzzled XL bullies in close proximity to young children.

“There are serious concerns regarding this premises’ ability to protect the public, and the failure to sufficiently inform police licensing of the events they choose to hold, so that sufficient risk assessments can be made and mitigation implemented.”

In a letter to the council, legal representative Savannah Courtenay from Flint Bishop “strongly objected” to the review saying it would be “improper” as the dog shows did not fall “within the scope of licensable activities” and “out the [council’s] remit.”

The venue’s designated supervisor is Nathan Thaker on the current licence with Sam Evans registered as the licence holder.

The Hangar had its licence reviewed over a separate list of issues, including late-night brawls and drunken antics outside the venue, in July 2023 with councillors deciding to ban former licence holder Steve Simpson from the role, alongside any day-to-day running of the business, and replace him with Mr Evans, and remove Mr Thaker as supervisor.

However, the decision was immediately appealed with magistrates still set to make a final ruling more than 18 months on.

Another review was due to take place in December last year but was delayed for a month and when the licensing committee finally met on January 16, the hearing was delayed yet again.

At January’s hearing, the venue’s solicitor Sarah Clover said Sgt Steph Reynolds had a “personal agenda and vendetta” against the venue and Mr Thakar – accusations the force said it “did not accept.”

In a statement, the force said: “West Midlands Police, acting in accordance with our duties, has raised its concerns about this venue to the relevant licensing committee at Wolverhampton Council for a decision to be made about the premise licence.

“Wolverhampton Police in conjunction with its licensing officers remain dedicated to preventing crime, disorder and public nuisance and we are committed to working with licensed premises to ensure that the public is kept safe which is paramount.”

The row between West Midlands Police and the Hangar has continued since the hearing date was pushed back to March – with the force raising concerns about another event held at the Hangar on December 28.

Sgt Reynolds, who made the request for the licence review last year, said West Midlands Police was ‘informed’ of the event by email in November – which contained a single subject line ‘28th December basline [sic]’ – and details of the event’s DJ were provided a few days later. However, a request for further information was ignored.

In another critical email to police, barrister Ms Clover accused Sgt Reynolds of “fishing” for evidence to support her licence review and the request for hours of CCTV footage from the evening was “disproportionate, excessive and unnecessary’ and breached data protection regulations.

As many as 1,400 people were let in and 2,000 tickets were sold for the event according to its promoter – with the venue’s maximum capacity set at 900 people.

The promoter received complaints and was unhappy with the management of the event, accusing them of having a “cowboy attitude” according to police, and would unlikely use the venue again.

Sgt Reynolds said videos published on social media from the event on December 28 and comments made by attendees said the venue did not have enough door staff which led to long queues, pushing and shoving and limited ID checks.

West Midlands Police requested CCTV footage from the evening and was sent a video of the venue’s entrance covered by a canopy.

The Hangar said it was willing to provide CCTV but the request needed to be “done correctly” according to an e-mail sent to West Midlands Police.

In separate emails, Mr Thaker said he had “nothing to hide” and the police’s “threatening behaviour” over the CCTV footage – accusing Sgt Reynolds of using it to “strengthen [her] personal case against him – had put the venue in an “impossible situation.”