Woman's ear bitten in pub assault, police say

The woman required hospital treatment after the alleged assault

A pub has kept its licence following a review after a female customer allegedly had her ear bitten during an assault.

The incident took place at the Hope Inn on York Road, Burmantofts, on 31 May, according to West Yorkshire Police.

The pub's manager and licence holder was accused of telling those who witnessed the assault not to report it to the police, according to a submission from PC Neil Haywood, who requested a licensing review by Leeds City Council.

Following a hearing on Tuesday, the pub, which had also been accused of operating outside its licensed hours, was allowed to retain its licence with stricter conditions recommended by West Yorkshire Police.

According to PC Haywood, the pub's manager and licence holder denied any knowledge of the assault taking place or telling drinkers to keep quiet.

CCTV footage from the date of the alleged assault was not available when requested by police, which PC Haywood said was a breach of the pub's licence.

The pub's management is required to keep a written log of any incidents which take place as part of another condition of the licence, but the log book contained just one entry - unrelated to the incident in question.

PC Haywood said he had spoken to the alleged victim, who told him she was "repeatedly punched" by another woman in the beer garden at about 23:00 BST, "causing her to fall to the ground where the assault continued".

The woman required hospital treatment.

'Serious concerns'

According to PC Haywood, the victim said she had spoken to the pub's manager and licence holder, who told her they had seen the incident on CCTV, knew the suspect and had banned her from the premises "so the matter had been dealt with".

PC Haywood said the identity of the suspect was unknown and admitted they were likely to evade justice "unless further lines of enquiry come to light".

"The circumstances lay fault for this outcome at the premises and the designated premises supervisor," he added.

"This is not upholding the licensing objectives."

PC Haywood said West Yorkshire Police had "serious concerns" about the incident and believed a licence review was "necessary to consider what actions are required to protect the public from harm and prevent crime and disorder".

Leeds City Council's licensing committee rejected his request to strip the pub's manager and licence holder of her licence to run the venue.

However, they did introduce several new conditions to the pub's licence.

They included a commitment to maintaining a log of all incidents, as well as improvements to the venue's CCTV operation.

Ahead of the hearing, 23 people had lodged their support for the pub, which is owned by Trust Inns.

A spokesperson for the company thanked the police and the licensing committee for a "fair hearing" and said the recommendations would be implemented.

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