A vicious brawl at a Conservative club in Manchester, which left four men hospitalised, has led to orders from local councillors to increase security measures at the venue.
The altercation at Winston Conservative Club in Hall Lane, Baguley, on November 4 kicked off while it was hosting a birthday party and a funeral.
Police were called following reports of four men fighting and “stamping on people’s heads”, according to a police report to the town hall.
Our sister title, Manchester Evening News, reported that the club’s management were summoned to a meeting with the city council, where tighter security and better CCTV was requested by councillors and police.
According to the report by PC Alan Isherwood from Greater Manchester Police, tensions rose after people were thrown out of the club following “extensive damage” to the club’s toilets. A fight between four men then kicked off in the street outside.
As bystanders attempted to intervene, the violence escalated, resulting in the owner’s daughter being punched and four men sustaining injuries which put them in hospital, including a broken ankle, a fractured cheek and a bleed to the brain.
Following the incident, venue bosses were called to a summary review with Manchester City Council and GMP to discuss changes to licensing conditions. PC Isherwood suggested that CCTV at the club be improved, and that a trained security guard be present at events of more than 60 people.
He said: “Surely having someone employed who’s trained to deal with conflict resolution and defence tactics would be better if this horrible situation arose again, instead of your daughter or any other member of staff having to place themselves in danger?”
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However, Colette Renton, a spokesperson for Winston Conservative Club, objected, claiming that paying £25 an hour for security was “prohibitively expensive”. She regarded the incident as a “very unfortunate freak accident“, arguing that the conditions were “disproportionate”.
She added: “To add this to the conditions of the club because of one night in the history of the club – to have such a prohibitively expensive condition – is setting them up to fail.
“Any venue couldn’t have prevented this from happening. I understand the need to protect the public. But this is not proportionate against this serious but completely unpredictable scenario.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, councillors ordered the club to hire professional security for events involving more than 60 people, provide staff with extra security training and ensure that all public areas within the club were covered by cameras.
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