Drinkers support police crackdown
REVELLERS have welcomed the weekend's police blitz on town centre drunks, drug users and brawlers.
Nine people were arrested in Newcastle and Leek over the course of Friday night and Saturday morning as dozens of officers took part in a dual operation.
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ON PATROL: Above, officers search for drugs in Newcastle. Left, how we reported the swoop.
Police carried out almost 50 stop-searches, issued three fixed penalty notices and handed out seven Section 27 dispersal orders as they looked to reclaim the night-time streets for people who want to socialise responsibly.
And, as described in Saturday's Sentinel, drugs dogs were used to sniff out people trying to get drugs into town centre pubs and clubs.
Matt Worthington, manager of the Arnold Machin pub in Newcastle, praised the operation.
The 30-year-old, from Hanley, said: "I think it was great. It was a deterrent.
"In my experience it is easier to work in Newcastle than Hanley – I have seen more trouble there. But I think what the police have done in Newcastle will help and it will be a deterrent in future as well."
Bouncer Paul Walker, aged 28, of Chell, agreed, adding: "It was good to see a lot of police out, I think it is a deterrent."
But colleague Rob Hamilton, aged 30, of Birches Head, said: "I think police can put people off going out when there's a lot of them, which affects our hours. Some people will go out later to try to avoid them."
Dee Carter, aged 50, and Sharon Price, aged 44, both from Newcastle, enjoyed a night out together in the town centre during the operation.
Dee said: "Having worked for many years in the prison service I have seen the damage that drugs can do.
"I think it will be a deterrent to stop people taking drugs in the town."
Sharon added: "There's always a good police presence in Newcastle and it makes us feel safe. For two girls out alone, that is important."
Taxi driver Paul Jones, aged 53, of May Bank, said: "It's always good to see a lot of police out in Newcastle.
"As a taxi driver I see people at the end of the night and you do get people drunk and acting aggressively. Knowing there are police out is reassuring."
Neil Regan, from Cliff Vale, was the first reveller to be searched by police in Newcastle, after drugs dog Ben took an interest in him as he tried to enter the Arnold Machin.
The 43-year-old said: "The dog sniffed me a bit, so the police took me to one side and searched me. It was embarrassing.
"They didn't find anything on me. The officer was saying I might have stood next to someone who was smoking a joint.
"But despite that I think it's a good thing what the police are doing."
Sergeant Kelly Wareing, from Newcastle Police, said: "We were able to prevent any incidents of disorder but, with the help of a keen passive drugs dog and handler, we were also able to stop 21 people and search them under The Misuse of Drugs Act following positive indications from the dog.
"We also went into a few pubs early doors to search for drugs. This worked well as various drug seizures were made."
6 Comments
by mh, stoke on trent
Monday, February 01 2010, 10:55PM
“@m davies.
so why pick out the public houses that are COUNCIL ESTATES?
why not the toby at endon, or the harvester type pubs..or is that due to them selling beer and other drinks to eaters also?
why not pick on the public houses that are in the middle of private estates also, i can name you off the top of my head six that are either full or semi full from almost opening time to closing time in the evening on most days of the week, or perhaps thats a little steriotyping on your behalf. private estates equte to HARD WORKING families or individuals, wheras COUNCIL ESTATES equate to unemployed idle dole dossing alcoholic scum.?
and you want to talk about attitudes towards drinking, personaly think you need to think about another type of attitude.?”
by Warren, Meir
Monday, February 01 2010, 11:03AM
“Mind you. I'm all for the return of the old opening times. Maybe there is hope for you yet.”
by Warren, Meir
Monday, February 01 2010, 10:59AM
“Go out to have a drink and a good time with mates, and not break the law, then you have nowt to fear. Start breaking the law, in anyway, then you need dealing with, nice move, well done police.
Oh! good lord, the age to consume alcohol should rise to 25, witch numptey's said that , M.Davies, might have known. Look bud, what these kids need is telling of the dangers of drinking to much, not told they can't untill they are 25. All you will do is make the problem worse, drive it underground and uncontroled more then it is now, please think. The legal age to drink in the US is 21, and they have the same problems as this country with underage drinking, 18 is fine as long as its controled and in a educated way. Tighter laws on pubs selling drink to people who have had to much already would'nt go a miss though.”
by M.Davies, Blythe Bridge
Monday, February 01 2010, 10:17AM
“Another thing to blame is all day drinking, take Witherspoons for instance. They are full from 10 in the morning til 11 at night with dossers and dole whallers the same can be said for pubs that are in the middle of council estates. We should turn the clock back by 20 years and have 11.30am to 2.00pm and 7.00pm to 11.00pm opening times. Only night clubs with a strict dress code should be allowed to stay open till may be 1 am or 2 am!”
by mh, stoke on trent
Monday, February 01 2010, 10:09AM
“can understand your statement but raising the drinking age from 18 to 25 wont realy sort anything, apart from the fact that a lot of the pubs in the centers in an evening have SUPPOSEDLY 21yr old restrictions on their doors anyways?
aprt from anything else at 25yrs of age a young man can come home after being shot at and fighting for his country and when he get to the pub the barman turns him away saying sorry your not old enough to have a drink yet.. a little off the cuff but the general idea shows?
its tighter restrictions on drinking and harder courts that are required IN MY OWN OPINION relating to bothe public and licensed trade together, although no doubt others shall probably like to pick my comments apart?”
by M.Davies, Blythe Bridge
Monday, February 01 2010, 9:57AM
“The thing is, the youth of today can not go out and enjoy them selves with out getting drunk, vomiting every where, urinating in the middle of streets and fighting and this is just the girls. The police can arrest as many people has they want but it will still not stop this type of behaviour. The age to consume alcohol should rise to 25!”