A Brighton establishment has seen its licence revoked following an incident of violence which had exposed issues with the way the business was being run.
Molly Malone’s, of West Street, had the decision made against them after an occurrence of violence by a 16-year-old teenager who is said to have perpetrated an attack whilst illegally on the premises.
The verdict came after the licencing panel reviewed other issues experience due to the pub, with poor and insufficient management, unprofessional door staff and other factors all contributing to the teenager having been allowed access into the establishment.
Sussex Police had recorded a number of reports relating to Molly Malone’s which by themselves did not warrant any further action at the time and would not have led to the pub’s licence being reviewed.
However, the seriousness of the recent incident created a timeline of continuous failings that indicated an unsafe environment, having seen other violence, sexual assault allegations and a lack of control over customers all being concerns.
Such is the concern, that even should the owners, Indigo Leisure, appeal this decision then the licence will remain suspended unless they win the case.
When addressing the panel, Indigo Leisure indicated that whilst this had been a shocking incident which they also agreed showed management failures, the company itself is a very responsible licensee with 17 other businesses that had not experienced the same kinds of disruption.
Molly Malone’s itself had not failed any of the on-site routine investigations since they had their licence previously reviewed back in 2014 following the report of an underage sale.
In defence of the business, it was claimed that the night in question had seen a rare management shortage with a junior supervisor placed in charge of all operations rather than a fully trained manager which is the usual standards of practice.
The panel has indicated that despite the discussion of increased procedures such as ID scanning and shorter opening hours, they still do not feel this is adequate to address their concerns.
Molly Malone’s has 21 days to appeal the decision.
Photo Credit: Victor Clime
