Pub landlord keeps premises licence after review

A pub landlord has kept his premises licence following a review by Powys councillors.

Strict conditions will be now placed on the licence Clive Whitehead holds for The Buck Hotel in Caersws.

Powys County Council’s Licensing sub-committee was convened on Tuesday, July 7,  to consider an application by Dyfed-Powys Police to review Mr Whitehead’s licence.

This was due to a number of issues which include Mr Whitehead’s conviction in March this year for assault, after he was found guilty of attacking his former partner in August last year.

The committee were told that his personal licence had been suspended by Shropshire council due to the conviction.

Licensing team manager Natalie Jones said that the designated premises supervisor licence for The Buck had now been varied and transferred to Jane Moult.

 Dyfed-Powys Police’s Licensing officer Rod Bowen presented the case against Mr Whitehead which included details of “four specific incidents” for the councillors to consider.

PC Bowen said: “This premises has been identified as not operating to the high standards that are expected by Dyfed-Powys Police and our partners.

“Our concerns are primarily due to Mr Whitehead’s poor management of the premises and ignoring existing operating conditions within the licence.

“Dyfed-Powys Police recommend that this premises licence be revoked,”

One of the incidents referred to by PC Bowen was a fight between a number of  young men in the pub – which had been shared on social media.

Two clips showing the punch-up were played to the committee.

Mr Whitehead, who has run the pub since 2019, said: “That fight had nothing to do with The Buck Hotel.

“None of them were served. It took 15 minutes to get them all out.

“The person who got knocked to the ground, I was talking to him outside and he was fine, and I saw no reason to ring the police.”

He claimed that the problems between rival football team players had stemmed from elsewhere and that police officers had only asked for CCTV footage of the incident weeks later, when they visited the pub on other business.

Mr Whitehead said: “They police didn’t take any further action; social media only sees what it wants to.”

Cllr Adrian Jones (Conservative – Berriew and Castle Caereinion)  asked why the CCTV wasn’t working during the night of the “big fight”.

Mr Whitehead said: “It was on, the recording wipes over daily.

“I am looking to buy a better system that keeps recordings for 14 days.”

He claimed that those that had caused damage had now “paid for the lights and the (pool) cues” and he had received two barrels of beer as a goodwill gesture.

“If it was that bad surely the police would have pushed to do something,” said Mr Whitehead.

PC Bowen said: “The footage shows that people were clearly drinking alcohol and the first punch was thrown in the premises.

“If we had CCTV footage available, we could have investigated the matter and taken further action.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t and that’s part of the reason why we feel there’s a lack of responsibility in the management of the premises and why we’re here.”

Cllr Jones, who was joined on the sub-committee by Cllr Kelly Healy (Liberal Democrat – Newtown Central and South) and Cllr Lauren D’Silva (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod South ), then retired to consider their verdict.

Upon their return, Cllr Jones said: “We’ve discussed this at length.

“There’s only strong evidence of one incident.

“There’s been a lot of unsubstantiated complaints that we can’t take on board because there’s no proof.

“Management issues have been highlighted and need addressing.

“At this point we’re not going to revoke the licence, but we’re going to put several conditions on it.”

He explained that the CCTV cameras need to be placed “outside on the entrance, the smoking area and car park.”

The committee wanted staff to be trained, and SIA door supervisors hired for “organised events or late-night opening.”

Cllr Jones added that the committee wanted an “incident log” kept for 12 months.

Photo: A generic photo of a pub bar 

By Elgan Hearn, Local Deocracy Reporting Service