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Browns licence review: Police say venue bosses “lost control” during Carnival afterparty

Posted on - 24th June, 2013 - 3:33pm | Author - | Posted in - Nightlife, Preston News
Browns and Truth have become two of the mainstays of a Preston night out

Browns and Truth have become two of the mainstays of a Preston night out

Police say a city centre nightclub had “clearly lost control” during a club night following Preston’s Caribbean Carnival.

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Browns on Glovers Court is facing a licensing hearing after Lancashire Police applied for its licence to be reviewed.

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Licensing Sergeant John Lovick has detailed how in the early hours of the Monday morning following the Carnival – at an event called Caribbean Carnival Carnage Afterparty – a total of 25 police officers had to be deployed to regain control at the venue.

Two Asian men turned up at Preston Royal Hospital with stab wounds alleged to have been inflicted while dancing in Browns, one of whom had carried a knife into the premises himself.

A man was arrested for drunk and disorderly outside the venue and received a caution.

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Police also had to deal with a domestic assault in the street next to the premises.

Sergeant Lovick writes in a report to the council: “Immediate action is required to prevent further incidents and to permit an investigation relating to serious concerns of the premise management.

“On the night the DPS (designated premise supervisor) and his business partner completed disregarded Police advice regarding taking necessary and appropriate steps to resolve the situation and appeared to be more focused on making a financial gain than having any regard for crime or disorder and the safety of the public.”

Browns was closed from Saturday 1 June until Thursday 6 June following the incidents with restrictions on its licence including only being able to serve in plastic glasses and closing at 3am instead of 4am. Reports submitted to the city council’s licensing sub committee show police logs from the night.

They reveal how a nurse at Royal Preston called for police help when an Asian man turned up at A&E with five stab wounds and was verbally aggressive, claiming he had been attacked in the nightclub.

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Another man also arrived with stab wounds.

Officer reports state one man had five wounds to his neck, back and abdomen while the other had a facial wound.

It reveals the police thought there would be issues if they attempted to close Browns at around 3am on Monday 27 May.

At 4.43am there is a report saying two officers had visited the crime scene and “it was not possible to close Browns due to the high number people there and high risk of disorder.”

The logs also show a man was arrested outside Browns for possessing a knife at just after 2am on the same night.

Browns licence lists it as being able to open and serve alcohol until 4am every day.

It can hold a total of 275 people when full.

Truth, which is managed by the same team as Browns, can hold 300 people and has the same licensing conditions.

A spokesman said the owners of Browns and Truth would not comment ahead of the hearing.

The venues, which have been open since 1996, faced a previous licence review in 2010.

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Councillors on the sub-committee could choose to strip the venue of its licence, vary its opening hours, add other conditions or choose to take no action.

The meeting of the licensing sub-committee will take place at the Town Hall on Tuesday 25 June from 10am.

View the full reports submitted to the licensing sub-committee.

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