8:30am Friday 12th March 2010
By Craig Evry
A state of lawlessness existed in a troubled Trowbridge pub closed down after a string of violent incidents, according to a man who was brutally beaten-up by the former landlord.
Shaun Smith, 43, of Westcroft Street, Trowbridge, was punched up to six times in the face by Glyn York during a fracas at The Malt House pub in Roundstone Street.
York, 63, of Avondale Court, Yerbury Street, was found guilty of common assault following a trial at Chippenham Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Unemployed painter and decorator Mr Smith said York turned ‘a blind eye’ to violence in the pub, which was closed down for three months by Wiltshire Council’s licensing committee in December, with York removed as the designated premises supervisor.
Speaking about the attack, Mr Smith said he believes York was trying to make him retaliate to scupper an employment tribunal involving his wife Lisa.
Former Malt House barmaid Mrs Smith, 37, had been sacked in March 2009, after 11 years at the pub, after being accused by York of stealing £30 from the till.
The tribunal case was waiting to be heard when the incident erupted on August 16, all of which was caught on CCTV.
Mr Smith, who moved to Wiltshire from Birkenhead, Liverpool two and a half years ago after meeting his wife, said: “Lisa was gutted when she was sacked. That is all she has ever done.”
On the night of the attack, Mr Smith said he popped into the Malt House to see friends, but was left horrified when York confronted him, yelling insults about his wife, before punching him up to six times to the face.
“I was just shocked. I wouldn’t hit him back and he knew it. He said ‘this is my ******** town.’ “He says that all the time. He’s threatened people before.
“He wanted me to retaliate so Lisa would lose the tribunal.
“There was fighting in there all the time. He (York) just turned a blind eye to it. He said what happens in there, stays in there.
“Lisa saw a few punch-ups in there, he just hid upstairs.”
Mr Smith said a couple of weeks after the assault, York offered to pay his wife more than £9,000 if he dropped the assault charge against him, but Mrs Smith won her tribunal hearing in Bristol in November and was awarded £9,600.
The three-month closure order on The Malt House pub comes to end this month, but it is not known yet whether the pub is to reopen, or who will run it.
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