Norman bar on Call Lane forced to close as police warn of 'retribution' over mass brawl

An emergency meeting of Leeds City Council’s licensing sub-committee took place on Thursday to discuss an application for a summary review of the licence for Norman Bar in Call Lane, following concerns from West Yorkshire Police around crime and disorder.

A police report said that door staff were “out of their depth” and that police attending the incident in the early hours of March 24 were “overwhelmed” by the violence.

A more in-depth review hearing is set to take place next month and police requested the licence be suspended until that time.

West Yorkshire Police licensing officer PC Kath Arkle told the meeting that there could be further retribution incidents following the brawl.

She said: “It is the view of West Yorkshire Police that Norman bar is associated with both serious crime and serious disorder.

“Mainly this is due to the severity and the seriousness of the recent large-scale violence. We do not take this step lightly and it is our opinion that the licence should be suspended to help prevent any more serious violent crime and disorder at the premises.

“It is not unusual for retribution to be sought on the back of such incidents and repercussions are a real possibility, both inside these premises and, perhaps, at other premises in the city centre.

“Suspending all licensable activities until the review will effectively close the venue and allow for tensions to subside, and for the investigations to progress."

She said that investigations are ongoing and officers are trying to trace both victims and suspects.

Two people were arrested at the time of the offence and officers are now trawling through CCTV available, and social media sites.

A representative of Norman bar said: “[The licence holders] came to see me obviously very concerned about what had happened, and the applications made by the police.

“They immediately accepted my advice that we shouldn’t be challenging the application for a suspension because of the reasons PC Arkle set out.

“They are working with the police in providing CCTV footage from the premises to assist them in these enquiries.

“They agree with the police’s position that it wouldn’t be right to continue trading and they would have closed voluntarily until this had been sorted out.

“Obviously there is a commercial loss to them not being able to open this weekend, but they accept this is the right thing to do. They would have done so voluntarily, and they want to assist in trying to find out who these perpetrators are.”

A report from the police also included details of a further 12 police incidents which had taken place in or around Norman Bar since the beginning of 2018.

Chairing the meeting, Coun Billy Flynn asked: “There is a suggestion in the papers that the music genre has something to do with one of the incidents.

“Can you tell me a bit more about the kind of music that is played there?”

The bar’s representative said he would look into this and answer the question at a future committee.

The meeting then saw CCTV video evidence and the sub-committee resolved to suspend the licence with immediate effect.

A full meeting to decide on the future of Norman Bar is set to take place on Wednesday, April 17.