A Hilltown pub has been banned from serving alcohol for over a month after becoming the first establishment in Dundee to have its licence suspended under current laws.
No pints will be pulled at the Bowbridge Bar on Main Street until the end of March following a meeting of the Dundee Licensing Board on Thursday morning.
The suspension came after police had highlighted a number of alleged incidents at the pub, 11 of which were mentioned in a letter from the force to the licensing board last month.
Including claims of assaults, a lock-in and smoking on the premises between April and December 2010, the board voted in favour of suspending the licence of the Bowbridge until March 31 the first time it has used such powers under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
Licensing board convener Roderick Wallace said, “My own take on the situation is that the lunatics were running the asylum but the bottom line is that the buck stops with (premises manager) Mr Kane.
“I hate to think these things go on in a public house in the city of Dundee for which this licensing board is responsible.”
Throughout the proceedings solicitor Ken Glass, acting on behalf of Bowbridge manager Bruce Kane, insisted that his client had been unaware of any problems until December 2010, claiming that staff had failed to inform him of any incidents.
Mr Kane, who predominantly works throughout the day at the bar, was said to feel “foolish,” with Mr Glass adding that he felt that some staff had “pulled the wool over his eyes.”
Mr Glass also said that measures had recently been taken by Mr Kane to keep a closer eye on the premises, including a CCTV link allowing the manager to view goings-on at the pub from his home computer, as well as a reworked staff rota.
“Mr Kane only became aware of these problems when police spoke to him in December,” the solicitor said.
“He was staggered and believed that, apart from a couple of minor incidents, that everything was going swimmingly. He does know now and has dealt with it.
“If this was getting back to Mr Kane then he would have dealt with it but he couldn’t deal with things that he didn’t know of.”
Mr Wallace suggested an element of “naivety” on the part of Mr Kane before moving for a suspension of the licence.
Although Councillor Brian Gordon moved to adjourn proceedings, he was outvoted 4-2, with the suspension of the licence taking immediate effect.
Upon completion of the suspension it is understood that the Bowbridge will be allowed to resume trading as normal.
Mr Glass stated added that a decision on whether to appeal the decision was under consideration.