Bar shut down after two injured in stabbing

A bar has been stripped of its licence after two people were injured in a stabbing.

Bar 1, in Consett, County Durham, had its licence to operate revoked after Durham Constabulary raised concerns about its management.

At a hearing at Durham County Hall, the police said the business put "profit before people's safety".

Bar 1 claimed the police had no issue with the way the bar was run before the stabbing and said the force was calling for its closure at the "first strike".

The stabbing took place outside Bar 1, in Front Street, on 27 December last year.

It resulted in two men going to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

During the hearing, Durham Constabulary's legal representative, Paul Clarke, said there were alleged reports of people carrying knives and underage drinkers at the bar.

On one occassion, staff at Bar 1 confiscated a machete from a customer at the front door, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The force claimed it was only told about the stabbing because the ambulance service attended.

Mr Clarke said: "There doesn’t seem to be any willingness on behalf of this establishment to work with the police. 

“It’s profit before people’s safety.”

Duncan Craig, representing bar owner Jody Armstrong, said the police were unable to show that the bar had deteriorated in any way.

He said: "There’s been a catastrophic failure, but what the police are saying is that at the first strike the licence should be revoked."

Ms Armstrong said: “I was under a lot of pressure that night and we did the best we could.

"Our job is very dangerous for what we have to do."

The licensing committee voted to revoke the bar's licence following the "serious incident of disorder".

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