Police call time on alcohol shots
POLICE are calling on pubs and clubs in a notorious nightspot to stop selling shots in their battle against alcohol-fuelled violence.
Officers have asked licensees in the Guildhall Walk area to ban the sale of alcohol shots in their venues.
They warn that if trouble flares at venues ignoring their advice police will come down on them 'like a ton of bricks'.
Calls are being made as part of a review of bars and clubs launched following a spate of violence in the area that left 18-year-old Private Matt Brooks dead and another 30-year-old serviceman seriously hurt.
Sergeant Wendie Douglas, from Portsmouth's alcohol-related violent crime and licensing team, said: 'We have asked a lot of them to stop selling shots. Quite a few of them have. Some haven't and we will monitor those that aren't.
'If something happens we will be down on them like a ton of bricks. I have never made any secret of the fact that I do not like people selling shots.
'Some people will probably drink three or four if they are out in a group and they will often all drink them and they are in addition to what they normally drink.'
Police have also asked bars and clubs to consider buying cameras for door staff for the protection of themselves and the public.
The Fleet and Babylon in nearby King Henry 1 Street has recently introduced body worn cameras.
Other venues including Walkabout, Yates's and Route 66 in Guildhall Walk already operate the ClubScan system which records the identifying details of everyone who wants to enter their venue on the door.
Police have now raised concerns with individual venues and given them the chance to come up with an action plan addressing the issues they have raised.
If they do not respond the evidence could go against them when they go through the formal licensing review.
Sgt Douglas added: 'We have sat down and gone through the licenses with every premises in the Guildhall Walk area.
'They have been warned that if they don't comply they will go straight to review.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
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