Deaths spark binge concern
Police in County Durham are blaming a culture of binge drinking on a series of deaths in the North East.
One man is awaiting a sentence for the killing of a 21-year-old student and five other men have died in street violence in County Durham since March. A 17-year-old was also left critically injured after an incident outside a disco.
Detective Superintendent Harry Stephenson, said: "I and other senior investigators in this force are particularly worried by what we see as a growing drink culture which appears to be developing among the young men of the North East.
"They go out for a drink, perhaps have too much and then get involved in a fight. They often do this without giving any thought to the potential consequences of their actions."
The trade and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) believe a relaxation in licensing laws would also help stamp out the binge drinking culture in Britain.
DS Stephenson's comments follow wider calls for a relaxation in our restrictive drinking times. The trade and the ACPO believe that current hours prompt people to binge drink.
Drinking over a longer period and staggered closing is widely thought to help curb crime and disorder.
Patrick Brown, a student at Durham University, had been celebrating a friend's birthday in Newcastle on March 1, just hours before he died.
He got into a fight on his way home, was assaulted and fell down an embankment and over a wall, fatally landing on his head.
Later the same month Paul Simpson died when he was punched as he walked home in Darlington.
In June 63-year-old William Jackson also died when he was hit when standing on the edge of a fight outside a working men's club in Brandon and in September 18-year-old Paul Smith was killed by a single punch when he tried to defend his brother from an unprovoked attack in the village of Thornley.
According to police there are "striking similarities" between all five deaths, and the attack on the 17-year-old in May.
They say they are very worried about the binge-drinking culture in the North East which they blame for the men's deaths.
DS Stephenson, said: "A trend appears to be emerging and the senior detectives in this force all admit they find the pattern particularly worrying."
