2 weeks Ago By Nic Marko
Sign up to our daily newsletter Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Sunderland Echo, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. It came after an application had been submitted to Sunderland City Council from Northumbria Police to review the premises licence of Cleo’s Bar in Park Lane. Legal representatives on behalf of force bosses said the action was being taken following “increasing incidents of anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder at the premises and a lack of reporting of these.
” Advertisement Advertisement They added they were seeking a revocation of the licence for the venue, which would mean it would no longer be able to sell alcohol or carry out any other licensable activities. A solicitor on behalf of Mr Kenneth Craigs, the premises licence holder, admitted there had been a “failure in the management and operation” of the site. However he argued sanctions should be limited to the removal of Mr Craigs as designated premises supervisor, reduced hours and additional conditions for the licence, with a new management team, with experience of success elsewhere, already lined up.
The matter went before the council’s licensing sub-committee for a decision (on Wednesday, April 16) on what action should be taken. Advertisement Advertisement After hearing evidence from both sides, councillors ultimately ruled the premises licence for the site should be revoked, noting the new management structure did not “address sufficiently their concerns.” Helen Thompson, solicitor for Northumbria Police speaking at the meeting, said the force had a “history of involvement” with Cleo’s dating back to January 2023 when the premises licence application was first submitted.
The licence was granted in March that year and from that date the police “have been working with this premises in order to try and improve issues.” Ms Thompson noted on January 9, 2024, the premises was contributing “to more crime and disorder than any other Sunderland night-time economy premises, including those with a higher capacity.” Advertisement Advertisement This led to an action plan being implemented with police which was closed in May that year as a result of “issues declining.
” However by September more meetings were being arranged by the force due to the venue “sitting at disproportionate levels of crime and disorder once again.” Ms Thompson said the “catalyst” that led to the licence review, in addition to historic issues at the premises, was three incidents in January this year. The first of these, on January 5, saw door staff “gesture to bar staff an action which then leads to a bat being handed over” and was then used to strike a male trying to re-enter the premises after a door was damaged.
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