03/28/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Ammanford’s licensees and police get pro active with BOBB Scheme

LICENSEES in Ammanford have been meeting with representatives of Dyfed-Powys Police to address the issue of bad behaviour in public houses in the town.

 

Dyfed-Powys Police is working with licensees across Carmarthenshire with the Behave or Be Banned (BOBB) – a scheme which sees people banned from pubs, clubs and bars for bad behaviour.

The scheme is linked with businesses to reduce violence and disorder in pubs and clubs.

If anyone is arrested for a crime of violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour in licensed premises, or after leaving a licensed establishment in the Scheme, they will be banned from not just that licensed premises, but all licensed premises that display the Behave or Be Banned sign within the area.

The message is simple – Behave or Be Banned!  In addition, if someone is a persistent nuisance for a licensee but their behaviour doesn’t merit arrest, licensees can also put them forward to receive a ban from all licensed premises.

Problem customers are banned not just from the one pub but all those in the area that have signed up. It also tackles underage drinking and the use and supply of drugs.

At a meeting at Ammanford Miner’s Welfare hall on Tuesday (Jun 4) licensees met with police officers who heard examples of incidents within public houses in Carmarthenshire.

The incidents varied from rude and aggressive behaviour to physical assault.

A number of people were handed out bans under the scheme.

Pictured: Constable Huw Jenkins, PCSO Dainton Hughes; Carmarthenshire’s Communities and Partnerships Inspector Richard Janas, Neighbourhood Development Constable Dave White, PCSO Mario Rees and Paul Pugh

Chairman of the Ammanford BOBB group said that he was happy that the scheme had been relaunched and that police were now taking a pro active role in assisting local businesses in the fight against bad behaviour.

Inspector Richard Janas said that the was looking at putting forward further proposals including looking into the use of technology to detect levels of drink and dugs as well as offering tips for making areas where drugs may be being used or changed more visible to detect.

 

Neighbourhood Development Constable Dave White said that they had used technology in the past to swab for drugs and that he would also be looking int ways other forces are dealing with the problem of recreational drugs use.

Perhaps more pertinent to the evening was a talk downstairs at the centre where Paul Pugh a victim of a ferociously violent assault outside the Cross Inn public house relayed his experiences to a large audience.

There was not a dry eye in the house when he finished delivering an extraordinarily emotional and powerful address, which centred on the influence of alcohol and drugs in fuelling the unprovoked attack he suffered, which left him in a comma and in his own words has given him a ‘life sentence’ of problems to deal with.

For those unable to attend and unfamiliar with Paul’s case, here is a reminder.

Image: https://twitter.com/paulspledge

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