After hours boozing forces Cambuslang pub to close
Mar 13 2013
by Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer
A Cambuslang pub was forced to shut last week because a customer took a swig of beer after closing time.
Elizabeth White, licence holder at the Tudor Inn on Hamilton Road, was last Wednesday told by a Rutherglen and Cambuslang Licensing Board to shut up shop until 11am on Monday morning.
It followed two licence review hearings into the premises.
The first, which involved Ms White allegedly allowing alcohol to be drank on the premises outwith licence hours after her 30th birthday party, saw the board issue a written warning.
Just minutes later the licence was temporarily suspended after police say they witnessed two customer drinking in the pub just minutes after shutting time.
Ms White will have her personal licence endorsed and faces two hearings in front of the board.
The board heard that at 2.40am on Sunday, October 21 last year, police observed “several persons standing outside” the pub.
When they entered, the officers claim they saw Ms White drinking a bottle of beer behind the bar.
She told them it had been her 30th birthday party and nothing had been sold outwith hours.
The officers said there were eight people in the bar area while another five were in the function suite.
Licensing Sergeant Andy Macdonald said there were empty bottles and glasses on the tables and it could be “ensued people had been drinking alcohol.”
The police charged Ms White, who they claim said: “Have you got nothing better to do with your time.”
A few days later, the officers returned and Ms White said she had not been charged.
The officers then recharged her and also charged her with being drunk on a licences premises. CCTV footage later revealed a DJ leaving the premises at 2.15am.
Acting on Ms White’s behalf, Con Duffy of Duffy Coshner and Co, said Ms White’s family had arranged a surprise party for her 30th.
He said the party had finished within hours and the DJ had been waiting to be picked up.
He said the people in the pub had been waiting for a taxi and said he had a letter from Z-Cars confirming they had been “terribly busy and taxi’s had been few and far between.”
He said Ms While disputes she was drunk.
Mr Duffy said Ms White had taken over the Tudor Inn seven years ago and had “turned this business around,” adding: “The premises did not have a good reputation over the years.”
He said she had “made a real go of things in difficult economic times,” but admitted she was “maybe a bit inexperienced” with regards to licensing laws, which no longer allow consumption of alcohol after hours.
He added: “Her customers have been good for her and she’s been good for the customers and the community.”
The second alleged incident occurred At around 12.22am on Sunday, January 20 this year.
Officers say they saw people drinking through the window of the pub. When they entered they saw eight people and while speaking to Ms White a customer grabbed a glass off the bar and took a drink.
Mr Duffy said there were five members of staff waiting to go home together and the customer had previously left the pub.
He said the customer: “Seems to have come back in for some reason and seems to have lifted the glass that had been collected from the table.”
Both incidents are subject to a report to the procurator fiscal.
