Derbyshire nightclub stripped of its licence after a series of violence incidents including attacks on police officers

Following a five-hour Amber Valley Borough Council licensing hearing, the authority has now decided to revoke the licence of the Crib Bar in Church Street, Ripley.

The hearing had been brought by Derbyshire police, who had effectively lost patience with an increasing number of incidents either in, outside or linked to Crib Bar between October 31, 2021, and October 17, 2022.

This totalled 47 police incidents and 42 crime reports said to be linked to the troubled venue.

Daniel Penman, the solicitor representing Derbyshire police had dubbed the venue a “honeypot” for drunkenness, crime and disorder and that the owner and premises needed to be held accountable.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Leviseur, solicitor representing Crib Bar and its owner and founder of 20 years Robert Askew, said the police’s case was an Alice in Wonderland fantasy based on assumptions and errors.

In a statement provided to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Askew says he is assessing a potential appeal against the decision.

Key incidents include, a man stabbing another man three times in the abdomen at the club on October 31, 2021.

A dispersal order was eventually issued by police following the incident, with several other assaults, including on a police officer dispersing customers, also taking place during the same evening.

On October 17, 2022, there were numerous violent assaults at the venue, with a police officer being headbutted.

Mr Askew told the LDRS: “We are of course very disappointed at this decision, particularly as it is the direct result of a police submission which was both misleadingly selective and factually inaccurate. This will do nothing to address the problems of Ripley town centre.

“It also does nothing to serve the interests of the community, and it undermines the partnership approach to which Amber Valley Borough Council has committed itself over the past three years.

“The police had made a similar commitment, but their actions here demonstrate how shallow that was.

“Instead, they have cobbled together a spurious and misleading attack on what they saw as an easy target: a bar that is filled with people enjoying themselves night after night; but a bar that is well run, socially responsible, and underpinned by professional and consistent security arrangements.

“After the failed bid by the police to have the Crib’s licence suspended with an expedited review in 2019, Amber Valley Borough Council’s executive director was highly critical of the police actions and processes related to that hearing. But it seems the police haven’t changed at all. I will be asking our lawyers to review the case for an appeal.

“As I said before this hearing, we remain absolutely committed to offering our customers a fun, enjoyable and safe experience, supported by our professional security and safeguarding procedures.

“If the police truly are committed to the partnership approach in improving safety in Ripley town centre, we will be happy to work with them, and with the borough council. But they must look at the real causes of the current problems. Sadly, it seems they are still not prepared to do so.”

A core piece of evidence in his case was that there were numerous violent incidents which had not been recorded in the venue’s incident log and staff had no recollection of them. This includes an attack involving one man headbutting another and breaking his nose, and a second involving a woman spitting in a man’s face and punching him in the face multiple times.

Meanwhile, Mr Leviseur, made clear that the case brought by the police was “unfair” and “unhelpful” when the venue frequently worked well with the police and ambulance service to look after customers either from their own bar or from elsewhere.

During the hearing, it emerged that several facts of the case appeared to be wrong, with the police admitting one case of mistaken identity over an incident involving a member of staff punching a customer.

Meanwhile, an incident in which police reported that a woman destroyed sound equipment in the Crib Bar is said to have actually taken place in a different venue, VooDoo Bar.

Much of the hearing involved the apparent declining condition of Ripley’s nightlife, with the Crib’s team attributing this solely to the “£1 pub” at the neighbouring Cock Inn, which they felt was advertising irresponsible promotions and causing mass drunkenness – leading to incidents near the Crib which were then unfairly ascribed to it.

However, the police’s case was that the Crib was also advertising irresponsible promotions, including several “free bars” with customers getting “five free drinks”.

An advertisement from the Crib on New Year’s Eve was promoting 90p drinks.

In closing arguments at the hearing, Mr Penman had said: “There are 42 victims of crime behind the 42 crime reports. This is not a joke.

“Not all of them were in the Crib or caused by the Crib but all incidents in which Crib has been listed as the location of the incident.

“The vast majority are incidents in which we feel the Crib is at fault.

“I am here to represent Derbyshire police. It wouldn’t matter if Derbyshire police were the worst police force in the world, it is about what happened and what was the cause.

“As the panel has said, this is a place where people go every night of the week when they have drunk too much.

“It appears to be a honeypot for people who have drunk far too much and cause behaviour which compromises the licensing objectives.

“It is Mr Askew’s position that everyone else is to blame except but not him. In one incident he let in a woman who was so intoxicated she passed out in the toilet immediately, she never should have been let in.

“If this is what the Crib looks like when it is run appropriately, what would it look like if it was not? It is acting as a honeypot and it should be shut.

“There have been serious incidents which in the healthcare industry would be known as never events, they just shouldn’t happen and they happened during a free bar promotion, which is problematic on a number of levels.

“It would be unfair to call for a review if there was one incident, but this is not one incident, and all of these incidents happened in his bar, which is supposed to be appropriately supervised, but there is no record.”

Referring to the case in which a man assaulted someone using a “cute animal” knuckleduster attached to his keychain, Mr Penman said: “Is it the case that door staff saw the knuckleduster and thought it was appropriate or that they weren’t searching everyone and it slipped through the net? Neither is acceptable.”

He referred to the nearby Association bar, which has had 11 police incidents in the past year, saying: “They are managing to keep their number of incidents under control and are managing their licence better. There are incidents of violence but nothing like the level of violence reported at the Crib.”

He said that despite a previous review of the Crib licence in 2019, the venue “should have known it needed to be on its best behaviour, so we can only assume this is their best behaviour”.

Mr Leviseur said in his closing statement that the police’s previous attempt to strip the Crib of its licence in 2019 ended with the council writing to the chief constable to complain, saying the burden of evidence for a review was far higher than had been brought.

He said the mixup of the damaged sound equipment “beggars belief”, as did the mistaken identity of the staff member, bringing the current review back into the same territory of the 2019 review, with a case “based on accusations”.

Mr Leviseur said the mistaken identity case had “very serious consequences”.

He said: “It seems to be that any matter which happens near the Crib is the responsibility of the Crib. The Crib is not responsible for disorder.

“Anything in Ripley that happens at 2/3/4am in the morning in the marketplace is its responsibility, it isn’t. This cannot properly and responsibly be laid at the Crib’s door.”

He said the two key sets of incidents which occurred at the Crib were “not the fault of police, or the designated premises supervisor or staff”.

Mr Leviseur said: “They say you never should have let a drunk woman into your establishment, that is not right, the woman would have been kept safe there and not chucked out onto the street.

“Crib bar staff are doing what they should do and protect the public.

“The incident 14 months ago was regrettable, but it was 14 months ago, and the other incidents (October 17, 2022) were linked to some underlying tension.

“The licence at the Crib is being run by a man who takes his responsibilities seriously.”

“If Crib bar call the police, they are criticised, if they don’t call the police, they are criticised, if Crib call for an ambulance, they are criticised.”