Pub hit by racial fight

Thousands of pounds of damage was caused at a pub after it was targeted during violent race clashes in Wrexham, North Wales, on Monday night. The Red Dragon, on the Caia Park estate, was attacked during the disturbances, thought to be between asylum seekers and local residents. Police were called to a fight outside the pub at around 8pm and made one arrest. An hour later, they returned to find riots had broken out in and around the pub, with brawlers throwing petrol bombs and fighting with makeshift weapons. Missiles were thrown at the widows of the pub and the interior was wrecked. Two men, one an Iraqi Kurd, were taken to hospital with severe head injuries. Street ban in Bingley A purge on rowdy drinkers has been stepped up in West Yorkshire where the town of Bingley this week became the third in the area to launch a street-drinking ban. The scheme in the town follows similar drinking bans in Keighley and also Bradford, which has witnessed the first successful prosecution under the Police & Criminal Justice Act. A 52-year-old man was fined £60 with £40 costs after refusing to stop drinking in the city's Centenary Square. Police and licensee groups say they want even tougher measures introduced to stem anti-social behaviour. Host is jailed for murder A Suffolk landlord has been jailed for life after he hired a hit- man to murder his wife so that he would not have to share the proceeds of the sale of a pub with her. James Garside, 54, landlord of the Cross Keys, Redgrave, and hit-man Richard Bates, 50, from Kings Lynn, were found guilty of murder when they appeared before the Old Bailey. They were both jailed for life. The court heard how Garside had boasted to one barmaid that he would shoot his wife Marilyn, 54, "like a rabbit". He told another barmaid he was going to kill Marilyn because he would only get half the £250,000 the pub was worth if he divorced her. Mrs Garside was stabbed to death by Bates, a few months after the couple sold the pub. Arrests after local fair Police have criticised drunken rowdies who obstructed officers as they tried to arrest a man wanted for questioning on criminal matters. A crowd of youths caused mayhem in Bacup town centre in Lancashire after the town's annual carnival. Youths ran amok in the town, smashing bottles and indulging in causing obstructions in the street. Police said 10 people were arrested, mainly for public order offences. Garden row means ban A man has been banned from a Stafford pub for a year by magistrates after a violent beer garden row with his wife. Sara Beddow, prosecuting, told Mid Staffordshire magistrates that Michael Pope chased his wife with a pool cue around the pool room of the Garth Hotel and smashed more than a dozen glasses in the beer garden. Pope, 23, of Sydney Avenue, Stafford, admitted using threatening behaviour. He was ordered to do 80 hours community punishment, with £55 costs to pay. The magistrates also ordered him excluded from the Garth Hotel for 12 months. Police hunt attackers Police are hunting three men who attacked a teenager and his 17-year-old girlfriend as they left a Coventry social club in the early hours of Sunday morning. The couple were attacked outside the Radford Social Club, which resulted in the 19-year-old man requiring nine stitches to his head. Police described the attack as unprovoked and called on the public to help identify those responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Stoney Stanton Road police station on 0845 113 5000.