Representatives for The Angel pub ‘strenuously deny’ allegations they sought to hinder a Greater Manchester Police investigation
The Angel pub in Gorton(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A Gorton pub is set to reopen after bosses said they ‘strenuously deny’ allegations by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) that it tried to ‘hinder an investigation’.
Officers made attempts to access CCTV footage at the Angel pub on 37 Wellington Street while investigating a ‘suspected kidnaping’ in the area in April, town hall documents said.
After four visits to the pub, GMP concluded that ‘management at the premises made a deliberate attempt to hinder a serious ongoing investigation by removing or destroying CCTV footage, a further crime for perverting the course of justice has been recorded and is now also being investigated’, according to papers published on Manchester council’s website.
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A licensing hearing was held over the matter on May 19 after GMP applied for the pub’s premises licence to be revoked. It followed a temporary suspension of the premises licence at the end of April.
Manchester council’s licensing meeting on May 19(Image: Declan Carey / Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A GMP officer said at the hearing on May 19: “Despite four visits, different officers were unable to get the CCTV footage that was requested, an investigation was hindered because we did not have access to that footage.”
One of the issues discussed at the licensing hearing focused around GMP’s fourth visit to the pub on April 21.
When officers went to the pub to get hold of the video footage on April 21, it was found that ‘the CCTV system was now a different model’, according to the council report.
The report added: “The original CCTV system has not been provided to police and its whereabouts are unknown.”
A representative of the Angel pub gave a statement at the licensing hearing on behalf of the venue.
They said: “While I accept and have previously stated that disposing of the CCTV footage was not the right thing to do, I strenuously deny that I did this to hinder a police investigation in any way.”
They added: “In summary, what reason would I have to deliberately hide anything from GMP? GMP officers had access for five hours to 14 cameras with my full cooperation. I was told the case was isolated and no further action would be taken. The incident was not connected to the premises.”
A panel of councillors considered the application by GMP to revoke the pub’s premises licence.
Councillor Julie Connolly, chairing the panel, said: “We’ve read the papers and we’ve listened to everything that has been said today.
“Our decision is to remove the DPS [Designated premises supervisor] and secondly to amend conditions relating to the CCTV.”
New CCTV conditions include a digital hard drive system to cover internal and external areas of the premises, and for the CCTV footage to be kept in an ‘unedited’ format for a period of 30 days, among other requirements.
A council officer added: “Any person left in charge of the premises must be trained in use of this CCTV equipment, and be able to produce, download and burn CCTV images upon request by a person from a responsible authority.”
Coun Connolly said: “As soon as these are implemented the premises can open.”