Police have secured the closure of a Swindon pub over concerns the landlady is ‘assisting a gang’.
The force applied for a closure order at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (Tuesday) following what was described as a “machete attack” on Friday evening (10 March).
The bench was told that three people armed with machetes entered The Crumpled Horn pub in Eldene in what’s believed to be a targeted attack by a drugs gang.
PC Becky Berni said there have been 22 reports about drug dealing and weapons at the location since November last year. She claimed that the landlady is facilitating gang members at the establishment.
It’s alleged the woman has been allowing drug dealing on site and storing electric vehicles, which are owned by the local gang.
She said there is a “significant risk of violence and anti-social behaviour will continue” if the court does not grant a closure order, which prevents people – other than the landlady and her partner – from entering the premises.
PC Berni said the force’s main concern was ensuring that nobody gets hurt – especially as the pub is close to a community centre that hosts birthday parties, a GP surgery and a school.
She claims the landlady has refused to engage with the police, who have repeatedly made attempts to help curb criminal activity, but officers “believe that they are associating and assisting” the gang.
The neighbourhood PC said the order would “immediately end a risk in the community” following a “machete attack that could have taken out a number of people”.
David Stallard, a regional manager at Admiral Taverns, the firm that owns the pub, opposed the application – telling the court that they were unaware of the issues affecting the landlady, who is a tenant.
But the magistrates suggested that the pub group were not made aware of the issues by the landlady because “the licensee might be involved” and failed to inform them.
Wanting to mitigate the risk fo “serious disturbances”, they imposed a six-week closure order to allow Wiltshire Police time to put in place additional measures to deal with the gang activity.
Anyone with information about the machete incident should call 101 and quote crime reference number 54230026367. Alternatively, call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
