By Christian Barnett

Copyright expressandstar

The Railway Inn in Harwood Street, West Bromwich, will face a licence review by Sandwell Council after staff failed to notify the emergency services over a stabbing involving some of its patrons in September.

West Midlands Police said officers were contacted by staff at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital at 5.15am on September 13 who had treated a man who had been stabbed outside the venue earlier that morning.

He had admitted himself to the Smethwick hospital telling staff he had been attacked outside the Railway Inn following an argument.

The Railway Inn’s licence was suspended on September 18 at the request of West Midlands Police in a behind-closed-doors meeting until a full hearing could be held.

Sandwell Council’s licensing committee will meet in Oldbury on October 14 and has the power to suspend or strip the venue of its licence.

The minutes from the interim hearing said there was an “element of naivety” from licence holder Donna Marie Shields as she was “unaware of her responsibility in terms of security staff, staff and dispersal of patrons” and “[did] not fully understand her terms and conditions of [the] licence.”

The hearing was also told the licence holder was unaware of the stabbing at the venue in the early hours and only found out when police turned up on her doorstep later that morning. The venue’s supervisor had left at 3am before the stabbing took place.

Sandwell’s environmental health team also supported the review of the pub’s licence saying it had received 26 complaints about the venue in the last five years – including five this year.

The complaints said the venue was frequently home to events which saw reggae DJs performing on a makeshift stage with cars and motorbikes racing in the street and blocking roads and pavements, as well as constant arguments, fighting and littering.

Neighbours said they were unable to sit in their gardens and were forced to stay indoors because of ‘very loud music and [the] strong smell of cannabis.’

The complaints said residents were forced to shut all of their windows during hot weather in the summer and “couldn’t hear themselves think” because of the loud music coming from “speakers the size of wardrobes.”

The pub’s licence lists Donna Marie Shields as the licence holder since May 2019, and Pauline Yvonne Taylor as the designated supervisor since 2012.

The pub’s licence was originally granted in 2008 and it is allowed to open from 8am to 3.30am every day.

The licence holder had argued that the closure of the business would “harm the local community who deserve to drink and relax in peace.”

“She further acknowledged that an action plan was necessary to avoid an incident like this from happening again,” the minutes continued.

The hearing also heard that the stabbing was the “first time [the licence holder] had experienced a serious incident on the premises” and despite saying the licence suspension was uncessary to make the changes, did not provide evidence to support the pub remaining open.

Of the incident in the early hours of September 13, the force said CCTV had shown there was “little or no action” from staff or bouncers to disperse crowds or call 999.

“The victim and offender were patrons of the venue,” the force said. “Footage from the CCTV of the venue shows no measures in place to actively disperse customers from the immediate vicinity of the premises and little or no action from door staff of the venue.

“Customers can be seen with drinks in hand outside the premises.”

The force added it was “mindful that the venue has a very late licence in what is a residential street” and it had received reports from residents “raising concerns about events at the premises and the behaviour of patrons in the street during trading and at closing time.”

“Of additional note, the premises licence currently contains very few conditions relevant to a premises open until the early hours of the morning and that would provide reassurance that there will be no reoccurrence of the incident and that the dispersal of patrons will be managed effectively,” police added.