Newcastle pubs ban 64 troublemakers

A total of 64 troublemakers have been banned from pubs and clubs in Newcastle, Staffordshire, six months after the launch of an initiative to cut violent behaviour. In the Behave or be Banned scheme, organised by the Pubwatch and supported by police and the borough council, anyone convicted of a violence, public order or drugs offence is automatically banned from the 32 participating town-centre venues. Letters are sent to offenders, telling them to stay away or face prosecution. Photographs of those who have been banned are sent to pub staff so they can spot them trying to enter. Venues in the scheme display Behave or be Banned stickers in their windows. Pubwatch co-ordinator Brett Ritzkowski said crime in the town was on the increase, but the scheme had helped cut violence in pubs. "Compared to this time last year, the town has seen a 35% increase in [evening] trade, so obviously more disorder comes with this. But most of the trouble is happening on the streetsand there has been a huge reduction in offences on premises," he said. In the last year there has been 4,603 violent crimes in north Staffordshire ­ up 758 on the previous 12 months. Man fined for torching licensee's car A man set fire to a licensee's car after drinking at least 10 pints of lager, a court has heard. Stephen John Dawson, 20, admitted arson for the attack on the car owned by Tony Jewitt, licensee of Ye Olde Whyte Swanne in Louth, Lincolnshire, at Louth Magistrates' Court last week. Paul Wood, prosecuting, said Dawson was asleep at the bar in Ye Olde Whyte Swanne after previously drinking 10 or 12 pints elsewhere. Dawson became aggressive and abusive after barmaid Amanda Smith woke him, the court was told. Customers helped to evict him, but they later noticed Jewitt's car, a Suzuki Swift, on fire in the rear car park. Customers helped extinguish the blaze. A picnic chair had been put on the vehicle and set alight, the court heard. Terry Vamplew, mitigating, said Dawson's memory of the incident on 25 January was clouded. Dawson thought somebody in the pub had slapped him and he did not think the chair had caught fire when he put his lighter to it, Vamplew said. Dawson, of Chestnut Drive, Louth, was ordered to pay £1,500 compensation, a £300 fine and £55 costs. Police puzzled by find of woman's ashes A casket containing the ashes of a woman who died in 1998 has been found in a Greater Manchester pub. The wooden casket, which contains the ashes ofIsabella Ford, was discovered in the licensee's livingquarters at the Commercial Inn in New Springs, Wigan,on Thursday 22 April, as the pub was being prepared forits new tenant. An employee of the Pub Estate Company, which owns the pub, discovered the casket, which featured a brass engraved plaque. Police said they had no idea how the casket ended up in the pub and they were trying to trace her family. Meanwhile, the ashes are being held in lost property at Ashton-in-Makerfield police station. Man is charged following pub siege A man has been charged with firearms offences following an armed siege at a Warwickshire pub. Police were called to the Gamecock in Harbury shortly after midday last Friday following reports that a man was threatening a woman inside. The area was cordoned off and negotiators were called in. The man gave himself up at around 5.15pm. The woman was found unharmed and left the pub with police. A man is set to appear before magistrates inLeamington Spa.