Wolverhampton's Bond Street Tavern shut down after violence
A troubled city centre pub has been shut down following an outbreak of violence and is now threatened with losing its licence for good.
Police were called to the Bond Street Tavern following reports of a wounding, involving an injury to a female customer, and applied to Wolverhampton Council for an emergency review of its licence.
City bosses closed the premises after watching CCTV footage of the disturbance and hearing evidence from police officers.
Licensing chief Alan Bolshaw described it as ‘a serious incident’.
A full review will be held in 28 days time when the pub’s future will be decided.
It is only 11 months since the premises in Bond Street, off St John’s Square, had its licence revoked after police seized ‘copious’ amounts of cannabis and two knives in a raid in February last year.
A review of the pub’s licence was held following an application by West Midlands Police, who claimed activity at the pub posed a ‘serious risk to public safety’.
Cannabis was found in ‘dealer wraps’ and two lock knives were recovered. A coconut bong, used to smoke cannabis, was also seized.
In addition, police told the licensing sub-committee about two incidents of alleged violence in or near the pub since the February raid.
The council said it recognised that it could not hold the licensee responsible for events that occurred outside the premises but ruled that to prevent further outbreaks of trouble the licence should be revoked.
Referring to the pub’s chequered history, Charles Streeten, for the police, argued: “Anything other than revoking the licence would be like attaching a band aid to a very deep wound.”
The pub previously gained an unwanted reputation as The Greyhound, which had its licence revoked in June 2013.
That followed the stabbing of a customer by bouncer Mark Brown who was subsequently jailed for three years. The victim had been refused entry to the pub.
The committee heard that The Greyhound had been the scene of a ‘catalogue’ of problems including another stabbing and a woman attacked with iron bars.
Police said they had been called to the pub 90 times between October 2011 and April 2013.
Councillor Bolshaw said that the latest decision had been made by looking at the wounding incident in isolation, with no reference to past events at the pub.
A full licence review is expected to be heard before the end of the month.
