3/28/2009

Where on earth were the police ?

A man was assaulted and is now fighting for his life in hospital after being beaten up in the heart of Norwich's "clubland" down Prince of Wales Road.

The big question for me is how could this have happened at 1.00 am, in the heart of Norwich, an area where there has been a constant history of drink related violence late at night, yet the police were seemingly not there or failed to intervene before the victim suffered life threatening injuries ?

If I had to place police anywhere on a Friday night in Norwich is would be half way down Prince of Wales Road between Mercy and Chicago's, which was exactly where the incident took place last night.

The other issue is what were the numerous doormen doing whilst this was happening ?

A friend of mine some years ago was beaten badly in Norwich late at night whilst so called professional trained doormen shouted a warning to the men beating him up to "go now, the police are here", whilst when it came to court the doormen told the CPS that they saw "nothing".

People out on a late night in Norwich need the police to anticipate danger. If I know where the problems will be, why were they not there ?

5 comments:

NORFOLK COAST said...

Wasn't so long ago someone did die after being set upon in the middle of Norwich while on a night out.

Brian said...

I think you mean Frank McGarahan in September last year. He went to the aid of a homeless Lithuanian and his girlfriend who were allegedy being beaten up by two brothers and was himself allegedly attacked, dying later of bleeding to the brain. I don't think the trial has taken place yet.

Nich Starling said...

Actually Guildhall, wher Frank McGarahan was killed, was some distance from Prince of Wales Road, but is also a palce of some tension. Usually, in my experience, problems occur near taxi ranks and Guildhall, near Spearmint Rhinos, where there is a major taxi rank, is similar to Prince of Wales Road, but POWR has lots of pubs, lots of clubs and lots of taxi ranks.

The attacks I referred to were a series of attacks over a numer of weekends involfig rival gangs from outside of Norwich.

jailhouselawyer said...

Too busy with the business of ACPO which is not an association as such, rather it is a company. Self interest conflicts in this case with public interest. There needs to be accountability, and with ACPO here is none. I am seeking to resolve this issue legally.

M from Norwich said...

Go down PoW road any Friday & Saturday night and the place is crawling with police getting the overtime in. So, yes indeed - where were they?

This is a problem area but need not be so.

I lived in Leicester and 20 years ago the police warned a publican about the level of drunkenness in and near his pub and that he'd have to stop serving drinks when folk became inebriated. He did not and the Police took away his license - no problem after that.

Surely it only needs doing once in PoW road? A clear message to all the publicans.

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