Police probe of Blackpool bar stabbing reveals group from Manchester visited the premises demanding drug debt

A police probe into a stabbing at a Blackpool late night bar found that 'a large group of lads from Manchester' had previously visited the premises demanding money for a drug debt.

Last month, police were called to Notorious in Queen Street after a man was stabbed and another was hit on the head with a bottle. Following the incident, police put a temporary closure order on Notorious and on Monday (May 11) council licensing chiefs are to decide whether the bar will be allowed to remain open.

However, police reports say Notorious was in breach of its own licence when police arrived at 4.16am on Saturday, April 18. And a Supt Dave Hannan reveals police had to repeatedly ask for CCTV of the visit by the Manchester gang. He said if footage had been provided immediately by the bar, in his opinion, the stabbing may never have happened.

He said: "Several weeks ago, information was provided that males from Manchester had been to the premises looking to cause harm to someone. Police had spoken to staff at the location to attempt to investigate this and retrieve CCTV, which has only just been provided.

"Had they cooperated initially, police may have been able to prevent this serious crime occurring."

Patrons and staff at risk of harm

Police attending the stabbing found the bar was open past its closing time and customers were being served drinks in bottles and glass containers, in contravention of its licensing conditions. Supt Hannan added: "There are other factors that cause concern. Firstly the incident occurred at 4am, when the premises should have been shut, in breach of their licence.

"Secondly, they were serving glass bottles, again in breach of their licence. The combination of the lack of previous support for police or any form of mitigation to prevent any incidents linked to the information, and the clear and obvious breaches of licence, I believe that these have had a significant link to the serious crime.

“This would potentially leave patrons and staff at risk of further harm."

‘A customer lost a lot of blood’

Sgt Nat Cox also provides a report for Monday's hearing to decide the fate of Notorious. He said: "Police were called to Notorious to a report of a large disturbance on the street. It transpired that a customer had been stabbed inside the venue. They lost a lot of blood and were in a serious condition on arrival at hospital.

"A bottle was also used as a weapon, being smashed over a customer's head."

He said that when police investigated the visit of a Manchester and drug debt links to Notorious, owners were asked on a 'number of occasions' to make any CCTV footage available to officers. But, Sgt Cox said Notorious had not supplied CCTV 'in any format that could be viewed'.

The stab victim has been named by police as a man in his 30s and Notorious' licence was suspended on police orders immediately following the assault. A 23-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. He was quizzed and released on bail while police continue their investigations.

‘Serious crime’

A sign warning customers of the closure is posted on the bar's shutters. It added the reason the review had been requested was because "the chief officer of policies is of the opinion the premises are associated with serious crime".

Following the incident, bar owner Matthew Crook revealed the fight broke soon after the bar closed at 4am. He said: "It was a very serious incident. A fight broke out and it got a bit messy. Our security had to get involved to break it up. We are taking this very seriously.

"We will remain closed until the licence is reviewed, but we would have done that anyway after this incident. I am sure the suspension will be lifted and am confident we will not lose our licence."

Notorious opened in 2024 as a R&B and cocktail bar but was relaunched in January with many cheap booze offers. Customers could enjoy unlimited drinks until midnight for just £12. After midnight drinks, including shots, cost just £2.

Mr Crook said he and his partner wanted to open the bar after spotting a closed down business that had potential. He said: "We're from Blackpool so we wanted to do our bit to get another place up and running."