Pub in Leyland facing licence review after fatal incident not caught on CCTV

A Leyland pub will have its licence reviewed over a lack of required CCTV which meant an assault potentially linked to a man’s death was not recorded.

Paul Ainscough died at his Chorley home on June 24 and police said he had been involved in an incident at The Stag’s beer garden two days earlier.

Lancashire Constabulary issued a witness appeal saying the 57-year-old may have been pushed over and it has now directly linked the incident to the death of Mr Ainscough.

The force has continued its investigations since then but efforts to obtain CCTV footage at the pub, in Worden Lane, have been fruitless. As a result, PS John Lovick has requested the pub’s licence be reviewed on the grounds the “premises are undermining the Licensing Objectives of the Prevention of Crime & Disorder and public safety”.

The licensing review has been granted by South Ribble Borough Council and a public hearing will take place next week. A report prepared for that hearing states: “Lancashire Constabulary are conducting an investigation and enquiries are ongoing. To date, no CCTV evidence has been made available by the Management of the premises. It is believed that the Premise is in breach of the licence conditions.”

According to PS Lovick’s submission, the use of CCTV covering all indoor and outdoor areas is a condition of the licence, while the failure to provide footage has “frustrated the investigation“ of the Force Major Investigation Team.

He added that despite the pub having the same operator for 10 years, designated premises investigator Lee Forshaw told the police that it “never had cameras in the beer garden, just a couple of dummies only”.

The sergeant has not requested any particular outcome, though the subcommittee has powers ranging from warnings to additional conditions to suspensions revocations.

He wrote: “Lancashire Constabulary would respectfully request that the Licensing sub committee act to which they believe is appropriate and proportionate given the evidence and circumstances.

“There has been a clear breach of licensing conditions despite the premises being managed by the same operators for over ten years. The operators are clearly experienced and appear to have had a complete disregard for the promotion of the licensing objectives.”

The hearing will take place at the Civic Centre in Leyland on Thursday, August 22.

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