Pub handed warning after 'underage drinker threw pint glass and man attacked with pool cue'

The operators of a Musselburgh pub where a 17-year-old boy is accused of throwing a pint glass in a customer’s face, while another man allegedly attacked someone else with a pool cue, have been given an official warning.

Police Scotland called on East Lothian Licensing Board to review the alcohol licence for the Anchor Bar, in the town’s North High Street, after the incident was reported.

And at a meeting earlier today, board members warned the pub it would need to prove it could be managed well moving forward and would face monitoring by its officers.

They were also told additional measures which remain open to the board if things did not improve included ordering the removal of the pool table, making the bar over 21s only and cutting its opening hours.

The meeting heard that details of the incident which led to police recording a serious assault and minor assault could not be discussed because it was the subject of court proceedings however it was alleged the teenager had been in the pub with his father when disorder broke out.

A report presented to the board said the 17-year-old had been drinking alcohol alongside his father in the pub in September.

It read: “The 17 year old male and his father became involved in an altercation with a third male at the pool table. This has escalated into serious disorder within the premises.

“About eight minutes of CCTV footage has been seized by the police which captures: several physical struggles between patrons as some patrons try to evict others; the 17 year old throwing a pint of beer at another male’s head causing immediate heavy bleeding from the side of the victim’s head; one male striking another male on the head with a pool cue.”

The report added: “This resulted in an extensive police enquiry, the 17 year old male being charged with serious assault and another male being charged with assault to injury.”

A police spokesperson told the board that a number of members of staff working on the night of the incident had also been reported to the procurator fiscal over the possible sale of alcohol to an underage drinker.

He also said that attempts to contact pub boss Ricky Ross had been unsuccessful following the incident.

Mr Ross, whose company East Coast Taverns Limited, runs the bar, appeared before the board in a wheelchair with his agent telling members he was no longer involved in the day to day running of it but was kept informed about operations by his son who was a staff member.

Mr Ross, a former member of East Lothian Licensing Forum, expressed anger at claims by police that they had tried to contact him but he had not responded in relation to the incident.

And he pointed out he began Pub Watch in East Lothian with fellow publican George Hood and had actively encouraged staff working in bars to contact the police to report incidents when they occurred at a time when operators were nervous it would be held up as a ‘black mark” against their premises.

He told the board: “For me to be accused of avoiding the police, I am raging. If they had left a card or a voice message I would have responded but they did not.”

Agent for Mr Ross and the pub Alastair McDonald questioned whether the police should have brought the licence to the board for review over the incident when it was still subject to court proceedings, however board members responded telling him the force had bee ‘right’ to bring it to them.

New board convenor Councillor George McGuire told the meeting it was important the board was made aware of incidents taking place in its licensed premises such as the one at the Anchor over the summer.

He said: “We have a duty to review this and I think the police bringing it to us was the right thing to do. We have agreed, in the circumstances, to issue a written warning to the licence holder and monitor the premises in the future.”