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Shock tactics time in campaign for plastic pub glasses
Police are using shock tactics in a bid to get pub owners to serve beer in plastic glasses to avoid people being injured in fights.
Officers have teamed up with the mother of a man who was seriously injured in a pub 'glassing' to try to get the message across.
Marjorie Golding spoke to dozens of licensees from across Fareham and neighbouring areas in a bid to convince them to introduce tough, non-shatter polycarbonate mugs and bottles.
On Christmas Eve 2004 her son Blake, a doorman at a busy nightclub, was repeatedly stabbed in the face and neck with a broken bottle when he went to the aid of a female colleague.
Since then, Mrs Golding and her husband Robert have been travelling the country to spread the word of their campaign, Plastic Bottles or Plastic Surgery?
At a seminar organised by Fareham Borough Council and the police, held at the Red Lion pub in East Street, Fareham, Mrs Golding told the harrowing story of the effect it has had on Blake, now 26, and those around him.
Mrs Golding, of Milton Keynes, said: 'We always get a really good response when we do events like this.
'Usually we find that about 80 per cent are against polycarbs at first, and I almost expect tomatoes to be thrown at me, but once they see the product and can play with it, they are mostly convinced.
'Blake is going to carry these scars for the rest of his life, and no amount of plastic surgery can get rid of them. It has had a huge negative impact on his life.'
Chicago Rock Cafe in Fareham town centre was the first venue in the borough to go completely plastic in March 2007. Manager Stefan Boxall said: 'We went polycarbonate as a company voluntarily. Recently we had a couple having an argument which flared up – he decided to hit his partner in the face with a polycarbonate.
'She ended up with a chipped tooth and was back in the club the next week to thank everyone for their help in dealing with him.
'He on the other hand was banned from everywhere under the pubwatch scheme, so it's game over for him.'
Fareham's licensing officer, Sergeant Roy Jennings, said: 'We have got a few premises now that have gone plastic, but a lot of them are still non-commital – they'll shrug their shoulders and talk about the costs, which is the wrong approach.'
Tracy Prater, landlady of the Sir Joseph Paxton pub in Titchfield Common, was at the seminar and said: 'I think it's a good idea, particularly for the late night venues.
'I'm particularly interested in looking at it for our beer garden, and if they're a reasonable price I would consider it.'
ALCOHOL-RELATED CRIME
Police in Fareham began their campaign to convince bars and clubs to go glass-free in March 2007, but they have been finding it an uphill struggle.
There are 1.2 million incidents of alcohol-related violence in the UK each year.
40 per cent of A&E admissions are alcohol-related – this rises to 70 per cent between the hours of midnight and 5AM.
This costs the NHS 1.7bn per year.
In nearly half (44 per cent) of all violent incidents, victims believed offenders to be under the influence of alcohol
This figure rose to 54 per cent in cases of stranger violence.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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