Cornwall nightclub where staff were as drunk as customers

Members of a Cornwall Council committee also heard that traces of cocaine were found in the staff areas of the After Hours venue in Liskeard.

A meeting of Cornwall’s licensing act sub-committee was considering an application for a temporary licence for a dance event at the West Street club next month. Councillors heard objections from Devon and Cornwall Police following a number of incidents at the venue.

The bar’s director Ashley Abernethie told the meeting today (Wednesday, May 24) he was seeking a temporary licence for the largest venue in Liskeard to hold DJ performances in its outside area from 3pm to 8pm on Saturday, June 10 and to extend its opening hours from 2am to 3am on Sunday, June 11.

The committee heard from Sgt Dan Lewis, who was called to the premises with colleagues on January 27,when he found the staff to be as drunk as the people they were serving.

He said: “I was on duty and I was asked to attend the bar to prevent a breach of the peace. When I attended, the door staff were quite unhelpful advising that of the two colleagues I attended with only one of us could go in. I suggested we would all be coming in because we didn’t know what we’d be faced with inside. I would describe members of staff as being intoxicated almost to a level of the patrons inside.

“That was concerning as if things were to go sideways and get worse then I’m not quite sure who would be able to deal with the patrons because the staff were at the same level. One member of staff started drinking rather a lot of water to sober up when I asked who I could speak to.”

Sgt Lewis added that as part of a police operation to tackle drug taking and anti-social behaviour in Liskeard various night-time venues were searched by a drug dog on April 1. On visiting After Hours, two customers were found in possession of cocaine and the dog indicated the presence of cocaine in an office and on a sofa and coffee tables in the staff area of the venue, which was backed up by drug wipes. Police also found a nitrous oxide [laughing gas] canister in the staff’s green room.

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Nicola Henderson, licensing officer for Devon & Cornwall Police, told the meeting that as well as objecting to the temporary licence for the dance event the police had also applied for a review of the bar’s licence. She said “sensitive and restricted information” was being collated as part of the review into After Hours, which was known as The Social Bar & Eatery until January this year.

She said: “Mr Abernethie has been granted a licence to sell alcohol after hours, which should be treated as a privilege and safeguarded accordingly. Some of the actions do not support this. As a licensing officer during my last two visits to the venue, both in April, serious concerns have been apparent. On April 18 a visit was undertaken and a lack of adherence was found to numerous conditions of the premises licence.”

The licensing officer said documents which were due to be sent to the police had yet to be provided.

“A review of police intervention at the club in the past 12 months does indicate ongoing crime and disorder. Many of the incidents take place on Friday and Saturday nights between 11pm and 2am. The police view an extension to the current hours would lead to a negative impact on the licensing objective,” she added. A police report outlined a number of incidents in and outside After Hours / The Social over the past year including assaults.

Addressing the committee, Mr Abernethie said: “We were recently part of a local campaign with Devon and Cornwall Police for passive drug dog visits. Unfortunately, the visit found a couple of patrons with controlled drugs and our toilets were swabbed and positive. Since that point we have instructed new security and these guys have a lot of experience with dealing with this nature of activity, and we have increased door staff from two to three on an evening, which is over and above the licensing requirement.

“It is also worth noting that during that campaign with the police, four out of five venues also had a similar result, so it wasn’t an isolated incident within our venue.” He said the venue had since forged a relationship with With You, the drugs support charity. “We’d like the support of the local council to bring some good events to the town and boost the local economy.”

The committee agreed to refuse the temporary event licence as there was sufficient evidence to show that the “prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective would be undermined if the event went ahead”. Members noted the representations from the police and as a result an application for a review of the premises’ licence has been submitted to be considered in due course.

A licence to hold a 12-hour dance event at the club when it was known as The Social was refused in November last year. Councillors made the decision after hearing from local police that there had been 29 call outs to incidents at the venue since January 2022. These included eight assaults which were classed as ABH, but also included incidents where staff were said to be being proactive.

The committee also heard that police licensing officers also attended the venue when there was an unlicensed boxing event held in December 2021 and that the venue had hosted a youth disco when its licence prohibits under-18s from attending without an adult.

It was reported last week that a protest was being organised outside After Hours in Liskeard after The Social Bar & Eatery Ltd went into voluntary liquidation leaving debts of £345,000 and workers unpaid. A “campaign for justice” group was set up on Facebook and planned a peaceful demonstration outside the Liskeard club on May 19.

The company ran The Social Cocktail Bar & Eatery venues in Plymouth and Liskeard, both of which are now shut. The Social Bar and Eatery Ltd was run by directors Ashley and Amy Abernethie, who are now directors of After Hours SW Ltd which is running the new nightspot in the same building in West Street, Liskeard, which housed The Social.